LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


"1 


r 


JAN  2  7  2005   i 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PROCEEDINGS 


CONNECTED  WITH  THE 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL    COMMEMORATION 


OF  THE 


PROFESSORSHIP 


OF 


R 


EV.    CHARLES    'HODGE,    D.D.,  LL.D 


IN  THE 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  AT  PRINCETON,  ^ 
N.  J.,  APRIL  24,  1872. 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 

JAN  2  7  2005 

f 

1 

THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

NEW   YORK: 
ANSON    D.  F.  EANDOLPH  &  COMPANY, 

770  BROADWAY,  Cor.  of  9th  Stbeet. 


I. 


PRELIMINARY    STATEMENT, 


THE  SEMI-CENTEXXIAL  CELEBRATION. 


In  May,  1822,  Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  who  had  for 
two  years  been  an  assistant  instructor  in  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  at  Princeton,  was  by  the  General  As- 
sembly elected  a  professor  in  that  institution.  He  was 
formally  inducted  into  office  at  the  beginning  of  the 
next  term.  The  fiftieth  year  of  his  professorship  ac- 
cordingly terminated  with  the  academic  year  ending 
April  23d,  1872. 

In  anticipation  of  this  event,  the  Board  of  Direct- 
ors of  the  Seminary  at  their  annual  meeting  in  1871, 
invited  the  alumni  and  friends  of  the  Seminary  to 
assemble  in  Princeton  on  the  day  subsequent  to  the 
completion  of  this  half  century,  with  a  view  to  its 
glad  and  grateful  commemoration.  They  also  sug- 
gested the  creation  at  that  time  of  "  some  memorial, 
of  the  long,  faithful  and  useful  professorial  labours"  of 
Dr.  Hodge,  and  proposed  further,  that  an  alumni  asso- 
ciation should  then  be  formed ;  and  appointed  a  com- 
mittee of  seven,  to  devise  and  carry  into  effect  such 
measures  as  might  be  requisite  for  the  end  contem- 
plated. 

This  committee  of  the   Directors  forthwith  named 

(5) 


6  SEMI-CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION. 

a  committee  of  seventy  alumni  residing  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  whose  counsel  and  co-operation 
were  solicited  and  who  were  invited  to  meet  in  Prince- 
ton, June  28th,  1871,  the  day  of  the  Commencement 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  in  order  to  deliberate 
upon  the  best  method  of  accomplishing  what  had 
been  proposed  and  adopting  such  measures  as  might 
seem  advisable  for  the  purpose. 

The  response  from  every  quarter  was  cordial  in  the 
extreme,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  extracts 
selected  from  a  multitude  of  letters  of  like  character 
received  at  the  time. 

Rev.  William  B.  Spragtte,  D.  D.,  Flushing,  N.  V. 

"  I  can  hardly  believe  that  there  is  any  one  who 
feels  a  deeper  interest  in  whatever  pertains  to  the 
Princeton  Seminary  than  I  do,  for  I  feel  that  I  owe 
to  it  everything.  In  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Dr. 
Hodge's  professorship,  I  shall  be*  specially  interested, 
for  not  only  have  I  been  the  witness  of  his  whole 
splendid  career,  but  he  was  my  classmate  and  is  one  of 
the  very  few  of  our  number,  who  now  survive." 

Rev.  P.  H.  Fowler,  D.D.,  Utica,  N.Y. 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind  could  gratify  me  more  than 
to  take  part  in  raising  a  memorial  to  one  whom  I  so 
much  admire  and  love,  and  to  whom  I  am  so  much 
indebted,  as  Dr.  Hodge." 


PRELIMINARY    STATEMENT.  7 

Rev.  Randolph  Campbell,  NewbiLrypoi^t,  Mass. 

"  I  heartily  fall  in  with  the  idea  of  a  semi-centenary 
in  commemoration  of  Dr.  Hodge's  long  years  of  ser- 
vice to  the  church,  and  fully  concur  in  the  considera- 
tions which  call  for  it." 

Rev.    Win.  H.   Hornblowcr,  D.D.,  Professor   in   the 
Western  Theological  Seminary,  at  Allegheny,  Pa. 

"  My  obligations  to  Dr.  Hodge,  and  love  and  vene- 
ration for  him,  will  not  allow  me  to  decline  acting  on 
any  committee,  that  is  appointed  to  honour  him." 

Rev.  Willis  Lord,  D.D.,  President  of  the  University 

of  Wooster,  Ohio. 

"It  will  give  me  exceeding  great  pleasure  to  act 
with  the  committee  so  far  as  I  can  find  it  possible. 
My  heart  is  warmly  in  the  proposed  movement  to 
honour  in  some  fitting  way  the  great  Theologian  of 
the  Church,  who  is  beloved  also  as  well  as  admired." 

Rev.  R.  S.  Goodman,  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan. 

"  I  rejoice  to  hear  of  the  notice  intended  to  be  taken 
of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Professorate  of  our 
venerated  and  dear  Dr.  Hodge.  If  there  is  a  man  on 
earth  whom  I  would  delight  to  honour,  he  is  that 


one." 


Rev.  F.  T.  Brow7i,  D.D.,  St.  Paid,  Minnesota. 

"  I  feel  complimented  in  being  put  on  the  commit- 
tee and  shall  gladly  work  with  it  in  any  way  I  can.    I 


8  SEMI-CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION. 

honour  and  admire  Dr.  Hodge  as  I  do  not  any  other 
living  man ;  and  co  make  proof  of  this  you  can  com 
mand  me  in  this  thing  in  any  humble  service  in  which 
I  can  be  of  use." 

Rev.  W.  C.  Matthews,  D.D.,  Louisville,  Ky. 

"  I  unite  heartily  in  the  object  proposed  in  the  reso- 
lutions of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Seminary. 
There  is  no  living  man  in  my  knowledge,  who  de- 
serves more  to  be  honoured  by  the  Church  and  the 
country  than  Dr.  Charles  Hodge.  It  is  highly  proper  for 
the  alumni  of  the  Seminary  and  the  whole  church  to 
erect  a  monument  worthy  of  the  character  and  works 
of  such  a  man.  His  name  will  be  cherished  in  per- 
petual and  grateful  memories  by  all  who  love  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  our  Lord." 

Rev.  W.  C.  Dana,  D.D.,  Charleston,  S.  C. 

"It  would  give  me  a  high  pleasure  to  be  present  at: 
the  semi-centenary  of  Dr.  Hodge  and  to  add  my  hum- 
ble tribute  to  one  so  highly  honoured;  but  I  can 
hardly  cherish  the  hope  of  being  present,  my  only  va- 
cation being  of  necessity  near  the  close  of  our  long 
summer.  I  can  only,,  therefore,  offer  the  warmest  sym- 
pathy with  the  plan  in  view." 

Rev.  Joseph  D.  Stratton,  D.D.,  Natchez,  Miss. 

"  It  will  afford  me  a  very  sincere  gratification  to 
render  any  service  which  may  lie  within  my  power  as 


PRELIMINARY    STATEMENT.  9 

a  member  of  the  committee  of  the  alumni.  With  the 
leave  of  Providence  I  shall  certainly  be  present  on  the 
occasion  in  April  next,  when  it  is  proposed  to  com- 
memorate the  semi-centenary  of  Dr.  Hodge's  profes- 
sorship. I  am  glad  that  our  southern  tribes  have  not 
been  overlooked  in  this  project  for  a  gathering  of  our 
Presbyterian  Israel." 

Rev.  Charles  Manly,  of  the  Baptist  Church,  Tttska- 

loosa,  Alabama. 

"  I  can  hardly  anticipate  any  occasion,  which  would 
afford  me  more  true  gratification  than  this,  when  I 
should  not  only  have  opportunity  of  mingling  again 
with  friends  highly  prized  and  fondly  remembered,  but 
also  of  testifying  my  sincere  and  profound  regard  for 
Dr.  Hodge,  whom  I  remember  with  a  most  affection- 
ate reverence. 

Rev.  James  Park,  Knoxville,  Tennessee. 

"  I  had  noticed  in  the  public  prints  the  gratifying 
fact,  that  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Seminary  had 
determined  on  appropriately  commemorating  the  semi- 
centenary  anniversary  of  Dr.  Hodge's  professorate. 
,  The  announcement  will  swell  the  heart  of  every  living 
Princeton  student  with  gratitude  and  gladness,  and 
will  awaken  sincere  desire  in  every  one  to  be  present 
on  so  interesting  an  occasion.  We  who  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  sitting  at  his  feet,  the  entire  Presbyterian 
Church,  all  Protestant  Christianity  and  the  world  owe 


lO  SEMI-CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION. 

a  mighty  debt  of  gratitude  to  Dr.  Hodge  for  his  long 
and  invaluable  service." 

Rev.  N.  L.  Rice,  D.D.,  President  of  the  Westminster 
College,  Ftilton,  Missouri. 

"  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  alumni  of  Princeton  will 
heartily  approve  the  plan  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 
I  hope,  if  spared,  to  be  able  to  be  present  on  the  in- 
teresting occasion  and  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  act  as 
a  member  of  the  committee." 

Rev.  James  H.  Brookes,  D.D.,  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

"  It  will  give  me  very  great  pleasure  to  serve  in 
any  way  the  wishes  of  those  who  have  so  happily  de- 
termined to  recognize  by  a  suitable  memorial  the  long- 
continued  and  faithful  labours  of  Dr.  Hodge.  The 
distinguished  ability  with  which  he  has  discharged  his 
duties,  added  to  his  unspotted  character  as  a  meek 
and  consistent  follower  of  Jesus,  renders  the  occasion 
contemplated  peculiarly  appropriate." 

Bishop  Mcllvaine,  Cincinnati^  Ohio. 

"  I  have  seen  with  affectionate  interest  the  project 
'of  showing  respect  to  my  dear  friend  and  brother  Dr. 
Hodge.  I  shall  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the  whole  mat- 
ter, and  though  I  cannot  promise,  I  shall  hope  and  try 
to  be  with  you  in  April  next." 


PRELIMINARY    STATEMENT.  II 

Bishop  Johns,  Malvern,  Virginia. 

"  I  need  not  assure  you  of  my  cordial  concurrence 
in  the  proposed  action  in  connection  with  the  semi- 
centenary  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hodge.  My  admiration  and 
love  for  him  will  find  great  gratification  in  any  suitable 
memorial  of  his  professional  services  and  personal 
worth.  I  fear  it  may  not  be  in  my  power  to  join  in 
the  joyful  celebration ;  but,  if  my  life  is  spared,  no 
ordinary  impediment  shall  deprive  me  of  the  pleasure." 

Encouraged  by  such  responses  and  by  the  general 
interest  manifested,  the  committee  of  seventy  with 
such  others  of  the  alumni  of  the  Seminary  as  were 
then  gathered  in  Princeton,  met  in  the  chapel  of  the 
College  on  Commencement  day,  and  with  great  unan- 
imity and  cordiality  endorsed  the  project  in  the  follow- 
ing resolutions : 

"  Resolved,  i.  That  the  proposed  celebration  of  the 
semi-centennial  of  Dr.  Hodge  meets  our  hearty  concur- 
rence, and  we  cordially  unite  with  the  Directors  in 
inviting  the  friends  and  former  students  of  the  Semi- 
nary to  meet  for  this  purpose  in  Princeton,  on  Wed- 
nesday, April  24th,  1872 ;  and  that  this  invitation  be 
very  particularly  extended  to  all  our  brethren  in  differ- 
ent Christian  denominations,  and  in  every  section  of 
our  country,  as  well  as  in  foreign  lands,  who  have  re- 
ceived their  education  here  in  whole  or  in  part.  And 
we  express  the  earnest  hope  that  the  hallowed  memo- 


12  SEMI-CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION. 

ries  of  the  past,  personal  attachments,  and  local  and 
literary  associations  with  this  cherished  spot,  may  be 
permitted  to  overcome  the  long  and  wide  separation 
of  time  and  place,  and  ecclesiastical  organization,  so 
that  we  may  all  upon  this  glad  occasion  gather  around 
the  instructor  whom  we  all  love  and  revere,  a  band  of 
brethren,  cemented  in  Christian  love,  renewing  and 
pledging  a  mutual  confidence  and  affection  which 
nothing  in  the  past  shall  be  suffered  to  dim  or  to  ob- 
literate, and  nothing  in  the  future  shall  be  permitted 
to  disturb. 

'^  Resolved,  2.  That  an  Alumni  association  be  then 
formed,  consisting  of  all  who  have  been  for  any  length 
of  time  connected  with  the  Seminary  as  theological 
students. 

"  Resolved,  3.  That,  in  our  judgment,  the  most  fit- 
ting memorial  of  this  half  centuiy  of  faithful  and 
distinguished  service  will  be  the  permanent  endow- 
ment of  the  chair  which  Dr.  Hodge  has  filled  with 
such  pre-eminent  ability. 

"  Resolved,  4.  That  this  endowment  be  immediately 
undertaken,  and,  if  possible,  completed  by  the  24th 
day  of  April  next." 

The  appointed  day  of  the  celebration  brought  to- 
gether a  large  concourse  of  the  former  students  and 
friends  of  the  Seminary.  The  first  class  upon  its  roll  is 
now  starred  throughout ;  the  second  shows  but  a  single 
survivor  and  the  third  but  two.  From  the  next  class, 
which  entered  in  181 5,  the  year  preceding  Dr.  Hodge's 


PRELIMINARY    STATEMENT.  1 3 

own  matriculation  as  a  student,  four  of  its  five  sur- 
viving members  were  present ;  and  every  subsequent 
class  was  represented  with  possibly  three  or  four  ex- 
ceptions. They  came  from  Texas  and  Colorado  and 
California,  as  well  as  from  places  less  remote.  The 
leading  theological  and  literary  institutions  of  the 
country  deputed  one  or  more  of  their  Professors  to 
indicate  their  interest  in  the  occasion.  The  church  in 
which  the  exercises  were  held  was  densely  thronged, 
and  by  an  assemblage  remarkable  for  the  number  of 
venerable  heads  and  thoughtful  faces.  Every  available 
standing  place  was  occupied.  The  enthusiasm,  which 
was  great  throughout,  reached  its  climax  at  that  point 
in  the  proceedings  when  Dr.  Hodge  himself,  almost 
overcome  by  emotion,  advanced  to  greet  his  gathered 
pupils  and  to  respond  to  the  address  made  to  him  Ijy  Dr. 
Boardman.  The  exercises  were  admirably  conducted 
throughout,  and  in  harmony  with  the  character  of  rhe 
day.  And  nothing  occurred  to  mar  the  general  grati- 
fication, which  was  heightened  by  the  fact  that  not- 
withstanding the  brevity  of  the  time  since  the  sugges- 
tion had  first  been  made  the  projected  endowment 
was  brought  to  the  verge  of  completion,  $45,000  of 
the  proposed  $50,000  being  already  raised,  and  a  purse 
of  $15,350  having  besides  been  made  up  as  a  present 
to  Dr.  Hodge.  One  gentleman  has  also  given  $50 
towards  a  fund,  whose  income  shall  be  expended  in 
the  purchase  of  copies  of  Dr.  Hodge's  Theology  or  of 
his  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  to  be 
given  to  needy  students  of  the  Seminary. 


14  SEMI-CENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION. 

The  amount  thus  far  contributed  to  the  endowment 
is  from  575  separate  donors,  mostly  former  students  of 
this  Seminary,  residing  in  twenty-five  different  States 
and  Territories  of  this  country,  some  of  them  mission- 
aries in  China,  India,  Siam  and  South  America,  a  few 
in  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  one  who  is  now  Profes- 
sor of  Theology  in  the  Assembly's  College  in  Ireland, 
and  who  has  embraced  this  opportunity  to  renew  his  old 
allegiance.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  few  funds  of 
like  amount  represent  an  equal  measure  of  self-denial 
and  devotion  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  contribu- 
ted to  them.  Ministers,  themselves  receiving  an  in- 
adequate support,  have  aided  in  this  endowment  with 
a  generous  enthusiasm,  sending  sums  that  they  could 
not  well  afford  to  spare,  but  forward  to  testify  their 
indebtedness  to  their  honoured  teacher,  and  eager  to 
have  a  share  in  erecting  this  monument  to  bear  his 
name.  A  very  few  extracts  from  the  numerous  com- 
munications received  will  illustrate  the  spirit  of  the 
movement. 

A  respected  brother  in  Indiana  who  sent  $50  in  two 
successive  instalments  writes : 

"  Nearly  all  of  my  ministerial  life  thus  far  has  been 
spent  among  the  poor  and  among  small  congregations. 
Consequently  my  salary  has  been  very  limited,  seldom 
exceeding  four  or  five  hundred  dollars  and  often  not 
that.  The  present  year  it  is  not  likely  to  exceed  five 
hundred,  if  indeed  it  reaches  that  amount ;  and  as  I 
have  a  wife  and  four  children  to  provide  for,  we  must 
live  very  plainly  in  order  to  live  at  all. 


PRELIMINARY    STATEMENT.  1 5 

"  Now  I  beg  you  not  to  think  that  I  am  going  to 
contribute  grudgingly.  I  shall  esteem  it  a  most  pre- 
cious privilege,  if  God  spares  my  life  and  health,  to 
be  permitted  to  contribute  to  this  great  and  blessed 
work." 

Another,  in  Iowa,  sending  on  his  own  subscription 
and  that  of  his  co-laborers  in  the  same  Synod  : 

"  We  are  for  the  most  part  rather  a  poor  set  when 
it  comes  to  raising  money  out  of  our  own  shallow  pock- 
ets or  from  our  impecunious  flocks.  Many  of  our 
churches  are  missionaiy  in  the  fullest  sense,  with  hard 
work  to  sustain  even  with  the  help  afforded  the  stated  ^ 
means  of  grace.  Others  are  in  a  somewhat  better 
condition,  but  have  just  emerged  from  the  wilderness 
of  financial  barrenness.  The  claims  that  press  upon 
us  and  our  churches  are  multitudinous,  so  that  we 
hardly  dare  to.  come  before  our  people  with  even  a 
modest  proposal  for  assistance  in  honouring  our  be- 
loved and  revered  Dr.  Hodge.  And  then  in  addition 
to  ordinary  obstacles  the  calamitous  Chicago  fire  adds 
another  of  hopeless  magnitude." 

Another,  who  enrolled  his  own  name  and  that  of 
his  father,  some  years  since  deceased,  on  the  list  of  sub- 
scribers : 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  this  memorial  affords  a  plea- 
sant opportunity  of  discharging  a  great  debt  which  all 
the  students  owe  to  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton." 

Another  who  sends  his  contribution  from  Allahabad : 


1 6  SEMI-CENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION. 

"  I  fear  you  will  have  few  subscriptions  from  our 
missionaries  in  India.  This  is  not  because  we  do  not 
love  and  reverence  our  instructor,  but  because  we  find 
it  very  difficult  to  live  here  on  our  salaries,  which  are 
lower  than  those  of  any  society  in  India  with  which  I 
am  acquainted,  excepting  the  German.  We  carry  with 
us  our  Princeton  traditions  and  the  bond  of  attach- 
ment is  not  weakened  by  the  distance  that  separates 
us  from  you.  Dr.  Hodge  may  be  pleased  to  know 
that  the  North  India  Tract  Society  has  recently  pub- 
lished a  commentary  on  Romans  in  the  Hindustani 
language,  which  is  based  on  his,  and  the  Madras  Tract 
Society  is  asking  for  a  translation  of  the  same  into 
Tamil." 

A  member  of  the  Arcot  Mission  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  India,  in  fonvarding  his  contribution  of 
$50  in  gold,  adds : 

"  I  wish  I  were  in  circumstances  to  send  a  much 
larger  sum.  It  is,  however,  a  missionary's  contribution 
and  must  needs  be  small.  Such  as  it  is,  I  send  it  with 
great  pleasure,  feehng  it  an  honour  to  participate  even 
in  an  humble  way  in  so  noble  an  undertaking. 

"  How  much  we  all  owe  to  Dr.  Hodge !  His  in- 
structions have  given  direction  to  my  whole  life  and 
extend  into  all  the  efforts  I  have  made  for  the  spiritual 
good  of  others.  The  great  doctrines  of  the  cross,  as 
he  expounded  them  to  us,  have  been  my  one  theme 
among  heathens  and  Christians,  and  have  fortified  my 
own  soul  against  all  the  modern  and  subtle  attacks  of 


PRELIMINARY    STATEMENT.  I7 

scepticism.  I  bless  God  that  I  was  his  pupil ;  and 
that  He  now  permits  me  to  present  my  humble  testi- 
mony to  his  eminent  worth  and  to  my  grateful 
affection." 

The  following  programme  exhibits  the 
ORDER  OF  THE  DAY. 

The  Officers  and  Alumni  of  the  Seminary,  invited  guests,  and  other 
friends  assembled  at  the  Seminary  Chapel  at  10.30  a.  m.,  where  a  pro- 
cession was  formed  under  the  direction  of 

Prof.  H,  C.  Cameron,  Marshal, 
and  moved  at  10.45  ^'^  ^^^  First  Presbyterian  Church. 


OEDEB  OF  PROCESSION. 

Undergraduates  of  the  Seminary  as  Escort. 

Rev.   Dr.   Hodge  and  the  Orator  of  the  Day. 

Directors  of  the  Seminary. 

Board  of  Trustees. 

Faculty. 

Officers  of  other  Theological  and  Literary  Institutions,  and 

Invited  Guests. 

Alumni  of  Princeton   and   other   Theological  Seminaries,  in  the  order 

of  Seniority. 

Citizens  and  Strangers. 

Students  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 


11    A.    M. 

EXERCISES  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

Music. 

"  Gloria  in  Excelsis,"  from  Mozart's  1 2th  Mass. 

Reading  of  the  92d  Psalm,  and 

Prayer 

by  Rev.  W.  D.  Snodgrass,  D.D.,  President  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 


1 8  SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION. 

Singing  hy  the  Congregation. 
137th  Psalm,  2d  Part. 

Oration 
By  Rev.  Joseph  T.  Duryea,  D.D. 

Congratulatory  Address 
By  Rev.  Henry  A.  Boardman,  D.D. 

Brief  Besponse 
By  Dr.  Hodge. 

Benediction, 
pronounced  by  Rev.  George  W.  Musgrave,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


The  Alumni  of  the  Seminary  remained  to  organize  an  Association, 
after  which  they  proceeded  at  1.30  p.  m.  to  a  bountiful  collation  pro- 
vided by  three  generous  friends  of  the  Seminary  in  the  College  Gym- 
nasium, which  was  kindly  loaned  for  the  purpose. 


3.30  p.  M. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  Alumni  Association,  a  second  meeting  was 
held  in  the  Church  to  receive  communications  from  abroad,  and  to 
give  opportunity  for  general  congratulatory  addresses  from  Alumni  and 
others. 

Between  the  hours  of  7  and  9  p.  m.,  the  residence  of  Dr,  Hodge  was 
crowded  with  his  friends  and  former  pupils,  who  flocked  thither  to  grasp 
his  hand  and  pay  him  their  respects ;  and  the  front  of  the  old  Seminary 
building  was  brilliantly  illuminated. 


II. 


ADDRESSES. 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  DR.  DURYEA. 

Fathers  and  Brethren  : — Three  events  unite  to  give 
significance  and  dignity  to  this  memorial  gathering :  the 
completion  of  fifty  years  of  patient  toil  and  faithful  teach- 
ing in  the  sphere  of  divine  science ;  the  presentation  to 
the  world  of  the  results  of  study,  experience  and  prayer 
in  a  work  of  Theology  fv'hich  gives  expression  to  the 
profoundest  religious  thought,  and  stands  as  proof  that 
our  English  tongue  has  not  lost  its  purity,  power  or 
beauty ;  the  endowment  of  a  chair  in  the  theological 
school  which  shall  preserve  the  memory  of  an  honored 
and  cherished  name,  and  shall  continue  the  usefulness  of 
a  prolonged  and  fruitful  fife.  These  events  direct  our 
thoughts  and  our  hearts  toward  a  person.  We  cannot, 
however  earnestly  we  should  make  the  endeavor,  divest 
this  occasion  of  a  peculiarly  personal  character.  The 
person  before  us  is  a  man,  but  a  man  of  God,  a  revered 
father  in  Israel,  a  beloved  teacher  among  his  pupils. 
There  is  upon  his  heart,  beside  the  weight  of  a  too  great 
joy,  the  burden  still  heavier  to  bear,  that  he  must  be  so 
conspicuous  here.  To  us  there  is  the  embarrassment  that 
if  we  shall  dare  to  say  that  which  we  think  and  feel,  we 
may  trangress  those  limits  of  propriety  which  are  guard- 
ed by  the  instincts  of  gentlemanly  culture  and  refinement, 
and  have  been  fixed  by  that  humility  before  God  which 

(21) 


2  2  ADDRESSES. 

is  ever  the  work  of  divine  grace.  But  for  our  relief  we 
have  need  only  this  to  remember,  that  all  these  years  of 
contemplation  and  communion  with  God  must  have  been 
of  Httle  worth,  if  they  have  not  served  to  yield  that  child- 
like lowliness  which  is  never  more  meek  than  when  re- 
ceiving the  award  of  justice,  and  is  never  more  severely 
hurt  than  when  subject  to  untruthful  flattery.  Our 
venerable  father  is  too  near  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day  to  care  much  for  human  judgment,  too  near  the 
golden  crown  set  with  many  gems  to  care  much  for  any 
wreath  we  can  lay  upon  his  temples. 

The  events  to  which  I  have  alluded  might  start  reflec- 
tions of  an  entirely  personal  kind,  and  fix  my  mind  and 
heart  on  him  alone.  And  had  I  my  unbiassed  choice  I 
would  not  be  uttering  these  poor  words  to  him  and  to 
you.  I  could  crave  no  higher  privilege  than  to  stand  in 
some  obscure  place  in  the  outer  circle  of  this  brother- 
hood clustering  about  their  teacher,  and  to  fling  above 
their  heads  the  humble  token  of  my  loving  gratitude.  But 
since  I  am  to  speak,  let  me  testify  that  he  never  will, 
he  never  can  know  here,  if  in  the  future  life  he  ever 
shall,  how  much  the  master  is  immortal  in  his  disciples. 
Enough  be  it  for  me  to  assure  him  that  from  day  to 
day  I  can  trace  backward  through  the  past  to  his  presence, 
to  his  almost  visible  form,  to  the  plaintive  tones  of  his 
teaching  and  his  prayers,  the  present  benefit  of  intellec- 
tual quickening,  the  pulse  of  spiritual  fervor,  and  the  habit 
of  moral  principle.  And  often  since  I  have  been  minister- 
ing among  men  have  I  felt  myself  to  be  not  the  immedi- 
ate channel  of  divine  grace  to  them,  but  rather  the  vessel 
that  bare  the  grace  of  my  teacher. 

To  others,  however,  have  been  assigned  those  addresses 


ADDRESS   OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  23 

which  will  be  more  personal,  more  familiar,  and  more  free. 
The  lofty  forms,  and  stately  movements  of  premeditated 
speech  seem  too  nearly  insincere,  they  are  too  surely  cold, 
for  the  expression  of  what  we  think,  especially  of  what  we 
feel.  I  have  thought  wise  to  note  these  three  events, 
and  cast  their  significance  along  a  single  line  of  thought. 
You  will  bear  with  me,  since  the  time  afforded  me  and  my 
circumstances  have  not  suffered  me  to  exercise  that  labor 
of  the  pen,  the  tool  that  squares  and  polishes  rough-hewn 
thought,  which  might  have  commended  me  to  your 
judgment  and  your  taste.  I  cast  myself  upon  your  hearts, 
since  I  dare  not  present  myself  to  the  discrimination  of 
your  understanding.  Had  pride  prevailed  to  make  me 
mindful  of  your  criticism  I  should  readily  have  found 
refuge  in  silence. 

The  subject  to  which  I  shall  call  your  attention  is  this : 
The  title  of  Theology  to  rank  as  a  Science. 

We  have  met  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  fifty  years 
of  labor  expended  in  teaching  theology  as  a  science.  We 
welcome  the  gift  of  goodly  volumes  exhibiting  theology 
in  a  system  as  a  science.  We  are  perpetuating  a  chair 
which  shall  continue  to  instruct  and  drill  the  mind  of  our 
rising  ministry  in  theology  as  a  science.  These  events 
are  not  so  significant,  this  occasion  is  not  so  august,  if  we 
have  placed  high  estimate  upon  that  which  is  not  worthy 
of  such  esteem.  Theology  has  been  in  these  days  crowd- 
ed to  the  very  verge  of  the  circle  of  sciences.  Among 
those  who  claim  for  themselves  the  true  principles,  the 
modes,  and  the  style  of  scientific  investigation  some 
have  erudeavored  to  expel  theology  entirely  from  the  sis- 
terhood of  sciences.  We  have  the  antithesis,  Religion 
and  Science.     Science  is  knowledge,  religion  is  faith  ;  or 


24  ADDRESSES. 

rather  that  form  of  intellectual  state  germane  to  faith 
which  is  more  correctly  designated  credulity.  In  nothing 
are  we  compelled  so  much  to  see  evinced  the  power  of 
evil  upon  the  human  understanding,  as  well  as  upon  the 
human  heart,  as  in  the  persistent,  hateful  antagonism  of 
science  to  religion.  Science  continually  complains  that 
religion  is  uncharitable  towards  its  investigators,  and  un- 
candid  toward  its  investigations.  If  this  indeed  be  true, 
it  is  because  science  has  ever  thrust  religion  on  the  de- 
fensive, and  seems  to  have  determined  that  if  possible  it 
shall  have  no  sfround  until  it  strikes  the  wall,  that  there  it 
shall  be  pinned  until  it  gives  up  the  ghost.*  As  soon  as 
facts  have  been  discovered  which  seemed  to  have  a  pos- 
sible bearing  against  the  truth  of  Scripture,  there  have 
ever  been  those  who  were  eager  and  loud  in  proclaiming 
them.  As  soon  as  the  facts  have  attained  number  suffi- 
cient to  afford  some  warrant  for  inferences,  theories  have 
been  thrust  forth  as  doctrines  and  set  against  the  dicta  of 
revelation.  The  church  has  wisely  felt,  and  faithfully  re- 
sisted encroachment.  She  has  not  been  the  aggressor. 
She  has  only  stood  in  line  at  the  front  to  defend.  At 
present,  in  many  quarters,  there  seems  to  be  the  calm  as- 
sumption that  religion  is  to  be  left  to  women  and  to  men 

*  Upon  reading  the  report  of  this  address,  which  was  spoken  extempore 
and  under  necessity  of  rapid  movement  on  account  of  the  shortness  of  the 
time  allotted  to  it,  the  speaker  desires  to  guard  himself  against  misapprehen- 
sion. He  does  not  perceive  any  real  antagonism  between  true  science  and 
true  religion,  between  a  true  scientific  spirit  and  a  true  religious  faith.  He 
would  have  better  expressed  his  sentiments  if  he  could  have  used  where 
the  word  "  science  "  occurs  in  the  passage  above,  and  similar  passages,  the 
awkward  phrase  "science  falsely  so-called."  A  sweeping  charge  of  anta- 
gonism to  religion  on  the  part  of  the  men  of  true  science  would  need  no 
refutation  at  Princeton,  and  would  have  awaited  no  severer  rebuke  than  the 
presence  of  Alexander,  Guyot  and  McCosh,  who  have  in  themselves  and 
their  works  so  completely  blended  the  scientific  and  the  religious  spirit. 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  25 

of  pietistic  temperament,  and  for  the  rest  science  is  the 
food  of  intellect,  the  stimulus  of  heart,  the  end  of  life. 

Also  within  the  church  are  those,  writing  in  its  periodi- 
cals, speaking  from  its  pulpits,  who  decry  theology  as  a 
means  of  culture  and  instruction  for  the  ministry,  as  a 
source  of  material  for  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel.  We 
will  not  forget  our  Lord  has  taught  us  charity,  and  yet  we 
must  in  faithfulness  affirm  we  cannot  avoid  conviction 
that  some  at  least  of  these  betray  insincerity.  They  have 
fixed  their  views  on  certain  aspects  of  the  divine  charac- 
ter, they  do  not  wish  to  perceive  others.  They  have  at- 
tended to  certain  declarations  of  the  divine  mind,  they  do 
not  wish  to  know  others.  They  have  accepted  certain 
determinations  of  the  divine  will,  they  are  resolved  to 
ignore  others.  Systematic  divinity  compels  them  to  state 
precisely  to  the  human  understanding  that  which  they  do 
conceive  of  God,  to  bring  it  out  of  the  shadowiness  of  the 
notion  into  the  definiteness  of  the  idea,  to  exhibit  in  com- 
pleteness their  views  of  the  nature,  character,  will,  pur- 
pose, plan,  relations,  and  ultimate  issues  of  the  works  of 
God.  They  are  not  willing  to  state  definitely  what  they 
think  ;  they  are  not  willing  to  admit  what  they  fear  they 
might  be  compelled  to  admit,  should  they  consent  to  a 
complete  exhibition  of  truth  in  the  proportions  of  the 
faith. 

There  are  others  in  the  church  who  pretend  to  a  sort 
of  mysticism.  The  meaning  of  the  term  as  they  use  it, 
and  the  phase  of  experience  as  they  describe  it,  are  diffi- 
cult to  comprehend.  They  place  worship  at  the  centre 
of  the  spiritual  Hfe,  and  tell  us  that  in  order  to  worship 
there  must  be  a  certain  vagueness  about  the  objects  of 
thought  and  affection.     If  the  objects  come  too  nigh,  if 


26  ADDRESSES. 

they  stand  forth  too  clearly  and  definitely  embodied, 
reverence  will  cease.  There  must  be  the  halo  of  mystery 
about  the  shrine  of  religion.  There  must  be  the  blur  of 
uncertain  sight  before  the  soul  ere  worship  can  be  pro- 
found in  the  affections,  intense  in  the  expression.  The  in- 
cense of  devotion  must  encloud  the  Shekinah  before 
which  it  ascends.  The  altar  must  in  some  sense  be  true 
to  the  inscription — "  To  the  unknown  God."  They  who 
so  teach  are  not  mindful  that,  if  by  too  close  searching 
we  may  gaze  profanely  upon  God,  we  may  also  by  lack 
of  clear  vision  deify  myths  and  worship  them. 

There  is  then  outside  the  Church  a  tendency  to  deny 
that  theology  can  claim  the  title  of  a  science.  There  is 
within  the  Church  a  tendency  to  maintain  that  theology  is 
not  merely  of  little  value,  but  of  pernicious  influence. 
They  make  bold  to  declare  that  the  ministry  are  pre- 
vented from  exercising  the  highest  power  in  the  pulpit  by 
the  predeterminations  of  theological  opinion,  and  by  the 
order  and  style  of  thought  induced  by  theological  culture 
in  our  seminaries  ;  that  neither  by  the  character  of  their 
discipline,  nor  the  material  of  their  store,  are  they  prepared 
to  become  practical  teachers  of  the  Gospel  to  the  people  ; 
that  the  people,  if  trained  after  the  methods  of  theological 
thought,  will  be  rather  determined  to  rationalism  and  in- 
differentism,  than  to  faith  and  worship. 

It  is  my  belief  that  the  theological  school  is  to  begin  at 
this  time  a  new  career,  it  must  adapt  itself  to  a  new  emer- 
gency ;  that  we  shall  need  an  enlarged  course  of  theo- 
logical study,  a  more  comprehensive  and  thorough  theo- 
logical training  than  we  have  received  in  days  that  are 
past.  We  hail  therefore  with  joy  the  honor  done  to  a 
faithful  teacher  of  theology,  the  favorable  acceptance  of 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  2  7 

his  works  in  this  and  other  lands,  and  the  endowment  in 
this  seminary,  of  a  department  which  shall  secure  a  sound 
theological  culture  in  the  age  to  come. 

We  maintain  that  theology  is  a  science,  that  it  is  an 
exact  science,  that  it  is  a  science  essential  not  only  to  the 
furnishing  of  the  ministry,  but  also  to  the  highest  life  of 
the  soul.  What  then  do  we  understand  by  science  ?  It  is 
not  simply  knowledge  as  consisting  in  the  apprehension  of 
isolated  facts.  It  is  rather  the  rational  exhibition  of  facts. 
We  have  here  a  product  of  two  factors,  the  reason  and 
the  facts.  The  facts  are  given,  and  the  reason  is  to  ela- 
borate. As  the  result  there  is  not  merely  a  development 
of  phenomena.  There  is  a  genesis  of  that  which  is  born 
through  the  conjunction  of  reason  with  fact.  Reason, 
and  by  this  I  now  mean  the  whole  understanding,  is  con- 
ditioned by  residence  in  the  body  its  organ.  The  body 
comes  in  contact  with  phenomena  by  the  special  senses. 
The  understanding  directed  by  the  will  performs  the 
office  of  attention.  The  passive  reception  of  impressions 
upon  the  senses  becomes  observation.  Observation  under 
pressure  of  the  will  and  the  laws  of  the  understanding 
becomes  rational.  We  have  the  whole  process  before  us. 
The  mind  by  its  native  energy  moves  toward  the  universe. 
Between  it  and  the  universe  are  the  senses,  the  inlets  of 
knowledge.  As  many  senses  as  there  are,  as  many  modi- 
fications of  the  several  senses  as  there  may  be,  so  many 
phenomena  are  there  fn  the  universe  relatively  for  man. 
By  observation  through  the  natural  force  of  the  senses, 
man  perceives  phenomena,  remembers  them  as  facts.  By 
artificial  means  he  transcends  the  limits  of  his  natural 
powers  and  again  observes  phenomena  and  records  them 
as  facts.     The  first  process  is  observation  of  that  which 


28  ADDRESSES. 

impinges  upon  the  organism,  makes  an  impression  on  tli^ 
sensibility,  and  through  it  on  the  mind.  Then  the  reason 
proper  begins  its  work.  It  perceives  more  than  is  seen, 
and  heard,  touched  and  tasted.  The  mind  itself  is  a  power 
capable  of  suggesting  truth.  It  is  not  a  reflector  which 
simply  throws  back  light,  it  is  a  lamp  which  radiates  light. 
The  light  of  the  mind  meets  the  light  of  the  universe  in 
the  focus  of  truth. 

Philosophers  have  studied  the  nature  of  the  light  which 
the  mind  casts  into  the  universe.     They  have  informed  us 
concerning   primitive   cognitions   which  come  into  con- 
sciousness the  moment   we   observe   phenomena.     They 
have  stated  for  us  primitive  beliefs  which  are  determined 
as  soon  as  we  consider  phenomena  and  whatever  is  in- 
tuitively  perceived    within   them.      They  have   collated 
primitive  judgments  which  are  formed  as  soon  as  we  per- 
ceive things  to  be  related  the  one  to  the  other.     By  this 
labor  the  philosophers  have  expounded  the  nature  and 
methods  of  science.     As  the  mind  turns  toward  the  uni- 
verse to  observe,  its  primitive  ideas  furnish  categories, 
and  suggest  inquiries.     Every  primitive  belief  suggests  a 
category  and  a  question.     Every  primitive  judgment  sug- 
gests a  question  or  many  questions.     The  categories  stand 
open  for  the  reception  of  facts,  the  inquiries  elicit  them. 
Science  is  complete  when  all  possible  effects  have  been 
wrought  on  the  senses,  and  all  the  phenomena  have  been 
recorded  ;  when  all  the  questions  stimulated  by  the  primi- 
tive ideas,  beliefs,  and  judgments  have  been  considered 
and  answered.     The  limits  of  science  for  man  then  are 
determined  by  the  power  of  the  senses,  and  the  categories 
of  the  understanding.     When  the  senses  have  ceased  to 
feel  the  universe,  when  the  mind  has  found  its  questions 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA. 


29 


all  answered,  or  has  become  assured  that  such  as  are  un- 
answered are  unanswerable,  the  sphere  of  science  is 
bounded  and  is  complete. 

Let  it  be  observed  that  there  is  a  principle  at  work 
throughout  all  the  action  of  the  understanding,  not  con- 
fined to  those  states  or  exercises  which  we  are  pleased  to 
call  primitive  beliefs,  viz. :  Faith.  The  moment  observa- 
tion begins  faith  is  exercised,  faith  in  the  trustworthiness 
of  "the  senses  so  far  as  they  may  reach,  and  in  so  far  as 
they  operate.  The  moment  primitive  ideas  and  beliefs 
and  judgments  start  in  the  mind  faith  asserts  their  truth. 
This  faith  is  original  to  the  individual  mind.  It  cannot 
be  derived  by  consulting  and  comparing  consciousness  in 
many  minds.  It  has  already  arisen  and  maintained  itself 
before  it  is  known  that  there  are  other  minds.  The  in- 
dividual thinks  his  primitive  ideas  not  as  demonstrable,  as 
conditioned  on  testimony,  but  as  self-evident.  They  are 
not  merely  true  for  him,  he  cannot  conceive  them  to  be 
untrue  for  others.  He  does  not  go  forth  from  himself  to 
question  them,  but  to  question  from  them.  Faith  is 
therefore  native  to  the  soul,  pre-requisite  to  every  move- 
ment of  it.  We  need  only  to  turn  to  the  history  of  the 
ideal  philosophy  to  learn  that  our  only  refuge  from  abso- 
lute ignorance,  or  at  least  from  uncertainty,  which  is 
much  the  same,  is  in  faith.  Upon  whatever  grounds  we 
place  the  verity  of  our  remoter  knowledge,  we  are  ever 
remanded  for  the  verity  of  truth  to  the  reliability  of  the 
individual  consciousness.  What  then  shall  substantiate 
the  deliverances  of  consciousness.  Is  the  logical  consti- 
tution of  the  understanding  the  counterpart  of  the  exter- 
nal frame  of  the  universe  ?  Are  they  correlative  ?  The 
answer  is  not  to  be  found  in  that  theoretical  system  of  cor- 


30  ADDRESSES. 

respondences,  in  which  phenomena  are  subjective,  and 
the  goings  on  of  the  external  world  are  separate  from  the 
mind,  and  the  ground  of  truth,  the  simultaneous  coinci- 
dence of  experience  within,  and  effects  without,  the  soul. 
It  is  given  in  that  system  which  presents  God  as  the 
author  of  the  understanding,  and  the  constructor  of  the 
universe,  and  informing  the  understanding  with  the  very 
.principles  of  the  universe  in  order  to  a  certain  knowledge 
of  it.  And  to  this  system  we  are  bound  by  the  results' of 
all  experiment.  Our  inferences  from  original  suggestions 
prove  on  trial  to  be  facts.  Our  guessings  at  truth  by 
analogy  when  confirmed  show  that  there  is  that  which  is 
analogical  in  the  structure  of  the  universe. 

Such  then  is  the  relation  of  faith  to  all  knowledge.  The 
scientific  man  must  rest  back  as  surely  as  we  upon  the 
principle  of  faith  for  the  verity  of  his  knowledge.  He 
cannot  discern  without  faith,  he  cannot  think  without 
faith. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  office  of  faith  in  science.  The  faith 
of  testimony  is  equally  essential  to  it.  The  individual 
scientist  has  quietly  made  the  assumption,  and  others 
have  as  calmly  admitted  it,  that  he  is  dealing  with  matters 
of  immediate  observation.  It  must  be  denied.  It  is  not 
true  that  he  himself,  by  his  several  senses,  has  observed 
all  the  phenomena  that  enter  into  the  matter  of  his  science. 
The  geologist  has  not  searched  the  secret  of  the  entire 
earth.  The  astronomer  has  not  scanned  the  contemporary 
heavens  throughout  all  their  spaces.  He  has  not  been 
as  old  as  the  ages  to  peer  into  the  constellations  from  the 
beginning  even  of  historic  time.  The  physical  geograph- 
er has  not  travelled,  staff  in  hand,  a  pilgrim  over  all  con- 
tinents.    And  yet  each  has  made  claim  to  peculiarly  posi- 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  3 1 

tive  science  on  the  ground  that  the  senses  have  touched, 
measured,  weighed  everything.  Has  he  forgotten  that 
he  sees  through  the  eyes  of  others,  that  he  hears  with 
their  ears,  touches  with  their  hands,  tastes  with  their 
tongues,  and  smells  with  their  nostrils  ?  Has  he  forgot- 
ten that  before  the  results  of  their  tactual  observation  can 
be  his,  he  must  have  them  by  faith,  and  by  faith  in  man 
natural,  without  a  claim,  much  less  a  demonstration,  of  the 
supernatural  either  in  the  matter  or  the  guaranty  of  his 
testimony  ?  Not  only  so,  but  the  contemporaneous  living 
observer  does  not  alone  testify  to  him.  He  too  must 
gather  up  dusty  and  worm-eaten  parchments  and  collect 
his  data,  before  he  can  calculate  the  periods  of  the  eclipses 
and  the  comets.  He  must  have  not  only  the  vocal  word 
vouched  by  the  authority  of  the  testifier,  but  he  must 
have  a  document,  actually  in  written  language,  which 
must  have  historical  proof  of  authenticity  and  genuine- 
ness, which  must  be  interpreted  according  to  the  laws  of 
language,  before  he  can  get  the  terms  of  his  problem, 
and  work  it  out  to  its  solution.  He  too  must  have  faith 
in  parchments,  in  scriptures  which  make  no  claim  to  the 
tracings  of  that  celestial  ink  which  has  been  tinctured  by 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

Again,  it  is  not  true  that  the  man  of  science  has  more 
facts,  relatively  to  his  scheme,  than  the  theologian.  The 
universe  is  to  be  searched  for  scientific  truth,  the  theolo- 
gian has  the  truth  complete  in  record.  To  be  sure  some 
of  it,  by  declaration  of  authority,  is  known  to  be  in  seed 
and  germ  to  be  developed.  But  he  knows  where  the  sum 
of  truth  is  to  be  found.  He  is  only  to  expand  it  by  thought, 
experience,  and  life. 

Nor  is  it  true  that  the  man  of  science  can  go  further  to- 


32  ADDRESSES. 

ward  exhaustive  knowledge  than  the  theologian.  Which- 
ever way  he  follows  the  thread  of  observation  it  will  lead 
him  to  mystery,  often  to  seeming  contradictions.  He  can 
proceed  so  far  as  to  experience  the  failure  of  his  senses, 
to  find  the  inquiries  of  the  mind  without  response.  He 
has  touched  all  that  is  tangible,  he  has  received  an  answer 
to  all  that  will  submit  to  interrogation,  and  yet  there  is 
mystery  beyond.  Let  him  select  that  which  is  nearest 
him,  the  body  in  which  he  dwells.  Let  him  analyze  the 
flesh  until  he  reaches  the  insoluble  matter  which  is  the 
residuum  of  chemistry.  What  is  it?  He  does  not  know. 
Let  him  search  the  living  organism  with  the  microscope. 
What  is  life  ?  He  cannot  tell.  Mr.  Darwin  tells  us  he  is 
going  to  know.  Mr.  Huxley  confesses  that  the  chemist 
has  not  produced  a  living  cell,  but  tells  us  that  he  is  just 
about  to  construct  it.  The  physiologist  cannot  tell  us  the 
stimuli  which  cause  the  reaction  of  respiration,  the  sources 
and  methods  of  the  reproduction  of  vital  heat.  If  you 
will  take  up  the  more  candid  exhibitions  of  the  latest  re- 
searches in  physiology,  you  will  find  that  they  who  have 
been  studying  the  body  with  most  skill,  and  care  and 
patience  have  enlarged  be3'ond  your  imagining  the 
boundaries  of  their  ignorance,  and  have  furnished  us 
with  a  most  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  given 
in  the  past  uncertainties  of  medical  treatment. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  consideration  of  our  own  science 
of  theology.  Here  is  the  same  human  mind,  with  the 
same  native  energy  tending  to  observation  and  interro- 
gation. Within  the  mind  the  same  constitution  govern- 
ing its  action  by  the  same  laws,  conditioning  its  knowl- 
edge, and  verifying  its  results.    Can  the  scientific  man 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  33 

deny  to  it  a  science  in  the  sphere  of  the  moral  and  spirit- 
ual ?  He  says  science  is  the  necessity  of  the  mind,  scien- 
tific thoiight  is  the  normal  intellectual  action,  scientific 
truth  the  pabulum  on  which  the  understanding  flourishes. 
Can  he  deny  us  the  same  native  tendencies,  the  same  de- 
sire for  intellectual  action,  the  same  hungering  and  thirst- 
ing after  truth  in  scientific  forms  ?  Surely  the  scientific 
man  should  not  object  on  the  score  of  the  wholesome 
activity  of  the  human  mind  to  a  science  of  divine  things. 

But  does  he  object  on  the  other  hand  that  in  the  sphere 
of  theology  the  mind  does  not  come  in  contact  with 
phenomena?  Does  he  affirm  that  nothing  is  unfolded  to 
its  observation  which  may  start  in  the  consciousness  its 
ideas,  beliefs,  and  judgments,  and  that  these  do  not  spon- 
taneously suggest  questions  that  will  vex  and  torment  the 
soul  until  they  are  at  least  proximately  answered,  or  with 
humble  faith  referred  to  God  in  patient  expectation  that 
what  we  know  not  now,  we  shall  know  hereafter?  If  so, 
then  we  maintain  that  the  matters  of  theological  science 
are  properly  phenomena,  in  contact  with  the  human 
senses  in  the  past  or  present,  and  directly  open  to  human 
observation.  Not  only  so,  but  all  phenomena  may  be 
distributed  in  the  categories  of  theology.  We  open  the 
Bible  and  read,  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  hea- 
vens " — then  Astronomy  is  ours  ; — *'  and  the  earth," — then 
Geology  is  ours.  We  learn  that  in  succ^sive  periods 
God  prepared  the  surface  of  the  earth  for  the  residence 
of  man — and  Physical  Geography  is  ours.  We  read 
again,  "  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  " — and  Physiol- 
ogy is  ours  : — "  and  man  became  a  living  soul  " — and 
Psychology  is  ours.   Theology  appears  at  last  the  science 

3 


34  .  ADDRESSES. 

of  sciences.  And  again,  "  God  made  man  in  his  own 
image."  And  now  we  have  affirmed  for  us  the  verity  of 
the  human  understanding,  the  identity  of  moral  percep- 
tions, beliefs  and  judgments  in  the  human  and  the  divine. 
All  that  is  human  is  related  to  the  divine,  all  that  is  truly 
human  is  similar  to  the  divine.  The  earth  is  become  a 
thing  of  clay,  and  stars  are  floating  dust  before  the  God- 
like majesty  of  the  human  soul.  And  we  stand  in  pre- 
sence of  the  grandest  problem  of  the  highest  science,  and 
strive  to  show  how  the  universe  is  related  to  the  soul, 
and  how  both  are  related  to  God. 

When  we  enter  our  proper  sphere  and  attempt  a  science 
of  truth  as  it  is  in  God  and  man  and  the  universe,  and  in 
all  their  relations  to  each  other,  we  have  no  other  instru- 
ments to  seek,  no  other  methods  to  employ  than  those  of 
true  science.  We  observe,  we  record,  we  arrange  facts. 
God  has  shown  himself  to  the  senses.  God  has  appeared, 
he  has  become  a  phenomenon.  Men  have  seen  him,  touch- 
ed him,  heard  him.  They  were  eye-witnesses.  They  were 
witnesses  precisely  as  scientific  observers  are  witnesses. 
They  have  preserved  their  testimony.  The  record  is  ours. 
It  is  subject  to  the  same  laws  of  criticism  that  determine  the 
credibility  of  all  documents,  and  to  no  others.  God  has 
shown  himself  not  only  by  appearances,  but  also  by  sym- 
bols. In  the  body  and  soul  of  man  he  had  so  interfused 
the  material  aftid  spiritual  and  blended  them  in  conscious- 
ness that  the  material  could  suggest  the  spiritual  in 
thought,  and  excite  the  spiritual  in  feeling.  He  therefore 
manifested  himself  in  material  forms  suggestive  of  his 
spiritual  nature  and  excellencies.  The  symbols  of  divine 
things  were  seen  and  handled  for  generations.  They  were 
most  accurately  described.     The  description  is  on  record. 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  35 

The  record  is  in  our  hands.  And  finally  God  has  spoken. 
He  has  uttered  words  in  the  ears  of  men.  His  language 
has  been  recorded.  The  scriptures  are  in  our  hands. 
We  possess  not  merely  the  accounts  of  man's  observation 
of  God  manifested  before  him,  but  God's  own  disclosure 
of  himself  In  his  own  wxDrds  he  expresses  his  attributes  ; 
in  didactic  terms  he  exhibits  his  thoughts,  and  purposes, 
and  plans ;  in  categories  he  sets  forth  the  declarations  of 
his  will ;  in  systematic  presentations  he  makes  known  the 
economy  of  his  relations  to  men,  as  their  creator,  ruler, 
redeemer,  judge. 

These  phenomena  are  to  be  treated  as  all  phenomena ; 
these  symbols  as  all  symbols;  this  language  as  all  lan- 
guage. If  others  were  witnesses  of  them,  their  testimony 
is  to  be  treated  as  all  testimony.  If  the  astronomer  tells  us 
what  he  has  seen  in  the  sky,  Moses  tells  us  what  he  saw 
in  the  bush.  If  the  geologist  tells  us  what  he  has  seen 
deep  down  in  the  hidden  strata  of  the  earth,  Moses  tells 
us  what  he  saw  on  Sinai.  If  the  physical  geographer  tells 
us  what  he  has  seen  on  many  continents,  Peter,  James, 
and  John  tell  us  what  they  saw  on  Tabor.  The  facts  are 
phenomena.  It  is  emphasized  in  the  testimony  that  these 
things  were  seen,  and  touched,  and  handled.  They  were 
brought  to  the  very  body,  before  they  were  commended 
to  the  faith  of  the  soul,  of  man.  We  are  therefore  on  the 
same  ground  with  science  as  to  the  use  of  human  senses 
in  the  observation  of  facts,  and  of  the  human  imagination 
in  comprehending  and  conceiving  facts  preserved  in  the 
language*  of  testimony.  Men  have  observed,  observing 
they  have  testified,  testifying  they  have  recorded,  record- 
ing they  have  used  language  according  to  its  normal 
sense  and   forms;  and   employing  imagination  no  more 


36  ADDRESSES. 

largely  than  science  even  in  its  claim  to  positiveness  of 
knowledge  is  compelled  to  employ  it,  we  can  revive 
phenomena,  re-enact  symbols,  interpret  words,  and  out  of. 
all  conceive  and  know  the  things  that  have  been  most 
clearly  manifested  to  us  of  God. 

If  the  phenomena  are  ours  by  testimony  on  recTord,  we 
admit  it  is  our  duty  to  examine  the  authenticity  and 
authority  of  the  record  ;  the  abihty  and  trustworthiness 
of  the  witnesses.  And  we  claim  that  w^e  may  trust  the 
worthiness  of  the  witnesses  to  the  facts  of  our  gospel,  as 
the  man  of  science  may  trust  the  competency  and  fidelity 
of  the  witnesses  to  such  facts  as  he  receives.  We  will 
make  a  higher  claim.  We  will  affirm  that  they  could  not 
have  been  what  they  were,  they  could  not  have  wrought 
and  suffered  what  they  did  and  bore,  they  could  not  have 
lived  immortal  in  the  growing  understanding  and  enlarg- 
ing heart  of  the  race,  but  that  there  were  the  supernatural 
and  the  divine  in  their  being,  their  observing,  and  their 
recording.  We  stand  then  upon  the  everlasting  rock  of  a 
divine  verity  in  the  records  of  our  Scriptures.  Science 
may  swing  its  pick  here  until  it  is  worn  to  atoms.  Science 
might  be  better  busied  in  driving  it  still  further  into  un- 
known rocks. 

But  have  we  need  to  define  the  facts  given  in  Scrip- 
ture. We  bid  adieu  to  the  partisans  of  science  fpr  a  mo- 
ment, and  turn  our  attention  to  those  in  the  Church  who 
tell  us  to  read  the  Scripture,  to  take  facts  as  they  appear 
on  the  page,  to  leave  them  concrete  as  they  are  exhibited, 
clothed  in  the  language  selected  by  the  writers.  And 
suffer  us  to  remind  them  that  the  people  have  not  the 
words  of  the  Spirit,  but  are  at  least  one  remove  from  them  ; 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  37 

that  all  translation  is  a  re-casting  of  originally  expressed 
truth,  that  the  original  tongue  itself  needs  to  be  con- 
tinually revived  by  a  careful  study  of.  antiquity  and  a 
deeper  sympathy  with  its  genius,  and  this  makes  impera- 
tive demand  for  fresh  expression  in  other  tongues.  The 
sufficiency  of  statement  is  relative.  Thought  may  take 
o©  forms  more  suited  to  the  mind  of  an  individual,  the 
common  mind  of  an  age,  than  those  in  which  it  was  first 
expressed.  Those  forms  which  may  make  revealed  fact 
more  clear  to  apprehension  are  surely  serviceable  to  the 
understanding  and  are  therefore  to  be  constructed.  And 
they  are  needful  to  experience  and  life.  If  truth  is  to  act 
upon  the  heart  it  must  be  before  the  understanding  de- 
finitely, "  concrete  "  indeed,  but  not  in  written  or  spoken 
forms,  but  in  living  ideas.  Language  at  best  is  but  a  hint 
of  that  for  which  it  stands.  The  Word  of  God  which 
liveth  and  abideth  forever,  is  begotten  and  lives  within 
our  souls.  It  is  only  by  that  labor  of  the  mind  which 
gives  complete  conception  to  crude  notions  that  we  shall 
ever  fairly  cognize  the  objects  that  are  revealed.  If 
these  objects  are  to  work  on  the  affections  in  order  to 
the  response  of  worship,  upon  the  motive  powers  of  the 
soul  in  order  to  the  response  of  obedience,  and  through 
worship  and  obedience  to  transform  it  into  holiness  of 
character,  to  develop  it  into  pureness  and  fullness  of  life, 
then  they  must  stand  full-orbed,  and  clean  disced  before 
the  understanding.  It  is  only  he  who  is  averse  to  the  ob- 
jects who  shuns  the  hght  of  clearness,  and  blurs  the  out- 
line of  definiteness.  It  is  only  he  who  is  not  worshipful 
but  sentimental  who  covers  with  the  clouds  of  his  incense 
the  object  of  his  devotions. 

Take  for  example  that  last  synthesis  of  theology,  the        ^ 


38  ADDRESSES. 

Person  of  Christ — can  it  ever  be  too  definite?  Have  we 
not  in  analogy  a  hint  of  our  duty?  Our  Lord  showed 
himself  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  before  Peter, 
James,  and  John,  clothed  in  his  most  excellent  glory. 
Moses  and  Elias  for  a  season  were  talking  with  him.  At 
length  they  disappeared.  The  voice  from  heaven  came, 
saying,  "  This  is  my  beloved  son,  hear  him."  So  when 
we  have  worked  our  way  through  law  and  prophecy, 
gospel  and  epistle,  and  come  at  last  to  stand  before  the 
brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  the  express  image  of  his 
person,  and  see  him  clearly,  and  see  him  entire,  then  will 
the  overflowing  fulness  of  knowledge  be  ours,  and  with 
it  the  fulness  of  faith,  and  the  fulness  of  hope. 

But  again,  and  finally,  having  defined  the  facts  that  are 
revealed  to  us  in  the  Scriptures,  may  we  collate  them  ? 
Are  the  processes  of  science  germane  to  Christian  theo- 
logy? May  we  begin  under  the  categories  furnished  by 
our  primitive  ideas,  beliefs,  and  judgments,  to  gather 
together  things  similar,  to  separate  things  dissimilar  ;  to 
work  upward  from  the  individual  to  the  family,  from  the 
family  to  the  species,  from  the  species  to  the  genus,  from 
effects  to  causes,  and  downward  from  causes  to  effects  ? 
Precisely  as  in  science.  So  far  as  the  facts  are  concerned 
in  the  processes  they  in  no  wise  differ  from  the  facts  of 
science.  They  have  substantial  existence,  and  whatever 
exists  may  the  subject  of  rational  processes.  Whatever 
exists  in  similarity  is  a  subject  of  classification.  What- 
ever exists  in  relations  is  a  subject  of  classification.  What- 
ever exists  in  the  relation  of  effect  to  cause,  or  cause  to 
effect,  is  a  subject  of  classification.  If  we  find  any  fact  in 
whatever  sphere  having  such  character,  existing  in  such 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  39 

relations,  it  is  of  the  very  nature,  and  it  becomes  in  con- 
sciousness the  imperative  demand,  of  our  mind,  that  we 
shall  classify.  Not  only  is  it  the  demand  of  the  mind  of 
the  scholar  but  as  well  of  the  peasant.  For  mind  will 
think,  and  this  is  thought.  The  merely  passive  recep- 
tion of  promiscuous  facts  will  not  be  sufficient  for  any  un- 
derstanding quickened  by  the  Spirit,  and  intent  upon  the 
truth.  The  very  workman  at  the  bench,  while  he  reads 
his  bible,  or  recalls  its  teachings,  although  he  knows  it  not, 
is  theologizing.  He  gathers  together  what  he  has  receiv- 
ed here  and  there  concerning  God,  and  is  working  out  his 
conception  of  a  divine  character.  He  searches  into  God's 
works  and  ways,  and  cannot  cease  from  seeking  the 
"  how  "  and  the  "  why."  It  is  not  mere  curiousness  but 
painful  necessity  that  makes  him  agonize  with  the  ques- 
tions. How  can  God  be  just  and  justify  the  ungodly? 
How  can  God  be  benevolent  and  permit  evil  ?  We  want 
no  more  proof  that  there  is  rational  necessity  for  a  science  of 
divine  things  than  the  million  tokens  all  about  that  men  will 
have  it  imperfect  at  least  if  not  complete,  and  will  labor 
onward  until  the  utmost  is  achieved  toward  completeness. 
But  are  the  facts  of  sufficient  number  to  fill  our  cate- 
gories and  complete  our  classifications  ?  If  not  we  will 
leave  our  categories  unfilled,  our  classifications  incom- 
plete. Are  these  facts  sufficient  only  for  approximate 
generalizations  ?  Then  we  will  make  our  generalization 
approximate.  Are  inferences  from  such  generalizations 
only  probable  ?  Then  we  will  be  content  to  hold  them  as 
probable,  except  as  we  may  find  didactic  confirmation  for 
them  in  the  Word  of  God.  And  if  we  shall  maintain  for 
opinions  such  inferences  as  seem  to  be  warranted  by  the 
facts  of  revelation,  Ave  will  not  be  so  dogmatic  concerning 


40  ADDRESSES. 

them  as  to  do  violence  to  the  sincerity,  candor  and  liberty 
of  thinking  people.  We  will  endeavor  to  keep  our  theo- 
logy where  the  scientific  man  ought  to  have  kept  his 
science,  in  the  attitude  of  expectation  toward  facts.  We 
will  try  not  to  proclaim  as  a  dictum  of  our  science  any 
such  crude  generalization  as  this,  "  Nature  abhors  a 
vacuum."  We  will  try  not  to  name  any  faculty  of  the  soul 
as  the  physiologist  once  named  the  courses  of  the  blood, 
when  calling  them  arteries  ;  through  any  such  inapt  con- 
ceit as  his,  when  he  supposed  them  pervaded  by  the 
atmosphere. 

Turning  now  to  ourselves  and  our  proper  sphere,  we 
maintain  that  we  have  a  revelation,  that  its  record  is  pre- 
sented in  terms  intelHgible,  that  it  is  sufficient  at  least  for 
our  present  need.  We  are  not  willing  to  depart  from  the 
principles  we  have  affirmed  so  far  as  confidently  to  pro- 
phesy, but  we  are  warranted  hopefully  to  hold  as  our 
opinion,  that  before  the  search  into  divine  things  shall  be 
concluded,  it  will  be  found,  that  revelation  stands  in  rela- 
tion to  the  human  understanding  and  the  spiritual  life  as 
complete,  as  the  revelation  of  nature  stands  to  the  facul- 
ties and  uses  of  man  in  the  lower  plane  of  the  physical 
sciences  and  the  animal  life.  The  soul  will  have  as  large 
an  expanse  in  the  spiritual,  as  in  the  material  universe. 

And  now  let  us  ask  the  practical  questions,  Are  we  to 
seek  for  more  devotion  to  the  prosecution  of  theological 
science  ?  Will  it  aid  us  in  the  work  of  instruction  from 
the  Christian  pulpit?  Will  it  help  us  in  our  advance  to 
higher  spirituality  in  the  Christian  life  ? 

It  is  said  that  theology  prevents  a  candid  interpretation 
of  the  Scriptures.     It  cannot  be  true  if  we  guard  ourselves, 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    DURYEA.  4I 

as  I  have  tried  to  guard  myself,  by  determining  that  we 
will  ever  go  from  the  Scriptures  up  to  our  theology,  and 
back  from  our  theology  to  the  Scriptures.  We  will  still 
•  leave  our  categories  open  and  hold  our  generalizations 
subject  to  the  modifying  force  of  the  facts  of  the  word. 
Under  the  light  of  proximate  science  our  observation  will 
be  so  much  better  directed  and  our  labor  so  much  more 
fruitful,  that  we  shall  sooner  gather  the  facts  that  will  re- 
pair the  meagreness  of  our  categories  and  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  our  generalizations. 

But  will  not  the  resulting  forms  of  thought  tend  to  the 
enfeeblement  of  emotion  ?  Will  not  theoretical  knowl- 
edge make  the  mind  unpractical  in  its  dealing  with  truth  ? 
Are  not  theologians  heavy  in  the  pulpit  ?  Is  not  theology 

dry  food  for  the  people  ? 

We  need  only  to  reply,  the  best  theologians  have  been 

the  best  preachers,  and  the  best  preachers  have  been  the 
most  practical  of  men.  The  man  who  can  write  a  System 
of  Theology  can  write  the  Exposition  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans ;  and  the  man  who  can  write  the  Exposition  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  can  write  "  the  Way  of  Life." 
If  theology  gives  satisfaction  to  the  questioning  mind  by 
full  responses  from  the  total  of  truth,  then  theology  can- 
not unfit  the  mind  for  the  office  of  teaching.  If  clear  and 
full  conceptions  of  objects  are  necessary  to  intensity  of 
feeling,  and  feeling  is  necessary  to  motive,  and  motive  is 
necessary  to  character,  and  motive  and  character  are  ne- 
cessary to  action,  and  the  sum  of  action  is  the  sum  of  life, 
then  let  us  have  the  science  that  gives  definitiveness  and 
completeness  to  divine  things,  that  we  may  come  to  full- 
ness of  spiritual  experience,  and  intenseness  of  spiritual 
life. 


42  ADDRESSES. 

Holding  firmly  these  views  I  am  deeply  convinced,  and 
returning  to  this  place  from  the  people,  I  desire  solemnly 
to  express  the  conviction,  that  the  future  of  our  country 
and  the  world  will  demand  a  new  race  of  preachers. 
Often  have  I  felt  that  I  could  cheerfully  sit  upon  these 
benches  again,  call  these  men  masters  once  more, 
and  retrace  my  way  to  the  pulpit.  We  must  have 
better  men,  Fathers  and  Brethren,  even  if  we  have 
fewer.  If  the  hundreds  become'  scores,  and  the  scores 
become  tens,  out  of  the  ten  we  will  place  on  the  walls 
of  Zion  the  man, 

"  One  blast  upon  whose  bugle  horn 
Were  worth  ten  thousand  men  !" 

The  people  can  do  all  the  poor  preaching  that  needs  to 
be  done.  The  pulpit  must  aspire  after  and  attain  to  the 
very  best.  We  need  men  who  shall  understand  the  con- 
stitution of  the  human  soul,  who  shall  master  the  philoso- 
phy of  the  mind,  who  shall  train  symmetrically  every 
power,  and  gain  the  harmonious  management  of  all  their 
faculties ;  who  shall  know  how  to  address  themselves  to 
the  Word  of  God  under  the  methods  of  a  true  theology, 
who  shall  understand  language  so  as  to  read  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit  in  the  forms  of  the  Spirit,  who 
shall  read  themselves  into  the  divine  language  so  as 
to  think  with  the  Spirit  rather  than  interpret  him  ; 
who  shall  hold  the  constitution  of  man  in  such  com- 
plete and  lucid  survey  as  to  be  able  to  present  truth  in 
methods  germane  to  the  understanding,  in  colors  winning 
to  the  affections,  to  apply  motives  directly  to  the  lever 
points  in  the  soul  to  move  and  lift  it.  Men  who  then  shall 
stand  with  truth   complete  in  memory  as  it  is  revealed, 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    H.    A.    BOARDMAN.  43 

vivid  in  the  imagination  as  it  can  be  conceived,  their 
faculties  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  as  promptl}^ 
obedient  as  the  hghtning  to  God's  behests,  ready  at  any 
moment  to  leap  from  chair  or  couch,  and  stand  before  the 
people,  and  articulate  a  complete  embodiment  of  divine 
things  which  shall  shine  radiant  and  burn  fervently  before 
the  human  understanding  and  upon  the  human  heart, 
nerved  with  confidence  that  comes  with  close  familiarity 
with  God,  and  thrilled  with  power  from  the  Spirit  resi- 
dent within  them.  Then  will  the  Lord  add  to  the  church 
daily,  such  as  shall  be  saved. 

Dj.  Snodgrass  then  introduced  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry 
A.  Boardman,  of  Philadelphia,  who,  in  the  name  of 
the  Directors  and  Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  and  of 
the  Alumni,  addressed  Dr.  Hodge,  and  spoke  sub- 
stantially as  follov^s : 

My  Honored  Father,  Brother,  Friend  : — I  am  com- 
missioned by  the  Directors  of  our  Seminary  to  present  to 
you  their  cordial  congratulations,  and  to  assure  you  of 
the  profound  sense  they  entertain  of  the  invaluable  ser- 
vices you  have  rendered  to  the  cause  and  kingdom  of 
Christ.  We  this  day  bear  our  public  testimony  to  the 
eminent  ability,  the  ample  and  various  learning,  the  prac- 
tical wisdom,  the  thorough  conscientiousness,  the  un- 
swerving fidelity,  and  the  humble,  devout,  earnest  spirit 
which  you  have  brought  to  the  discharge  of  your  high 
trust.  We  offer  our  thanksgivings  to  the  Author  of  all 
good,  that  you  have  been  spared  to  us  so  long,  and  in 
reviewing  this  half  century  of  your  labors,  we  reverently 
glorify  God  in  you. 


44  ADDRESSES. 

The  occasion  takes  our  thoughts  back  irresistibly  to 
the  origin  of  this  School  of  the  Prophets.  At  this  hour, 
hallowed  by  so  many  tender  and  sacred  memories,  there 
rise  before  us  the  venerable  forms  of  those  two  patriar- 
chal men,  Drs.  Alexander  and  Miller,  in  whose  arms  the 
institution  was  cradled.  We  gratefully  acknowledge  the 
Divine  goodness  and  mercy  in  sparing  them  for  forty 
years  to  impress  themselves  upon  its  character,  to  define 
its  theology,  to  determine  its  direction,  and  to  infuse  into  it 
the  animating  tone  and  spirit  by  which  it  was  to  be  con- 
trolled in  after  tirhes.  It  was  the  universal  feeling  of  our 
Church,  that  a  mercy  so  signal  was  too  great  to  be  re- 
peated. Yet  what  hath  God  wrought !  The  mantle  of 
our  Elijahs  has  certainly  fallen  upon  our  Elisha.  Their 
associate  first,  and  then,  in  the  true  line  of  the  apostolical 
succession,  their  successor,  he  has  taken  up  and  carried 
forward  their  work,  and  we  to-day  commemorate  a  minis- 
tration, not  of  fort}^,  but  of  fifty  years,  marked  with  every 
attribute  which  can  command  our  homage,  or  win  our 
gratitude.  But  I  forget  my  errand.  Assigned  to  a  ser- 
vice to  which  I  feel  myself  most  unequal,  and  from  which 
I  sought  in  vain  to  escape,  I  am  instructed  to  speak  to 
you  on  behalf,  not  only  of  the  Directors  of  our  Seminary, 
but  of  the  Alumni  also.  I  have  no  words  for  this.  Here, 
in  the  scene  before  us,  is  the  only  adequate  expression 
that  can  be  given  to  the  feelings  of  your  former  pupils. 
From  far  and  near,  the  aged  and  the  young,  moved  by  a 
common  impulse,  have  hastened  to  this  festal  service. 
Commingled  with  them  are  the  learned  Faculties  of  other 
seminaries  and  colleges,  distinguished  laymen,  and  honor- 
ed legates  of  European  Churches.  No  eye  can  look  upon 
this  sea  of  upturned  faces  without  being  impressed  with 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    H.    A.    BOARDMAN.  45 

the  spectacle.  As  interpreted  by  its  object,  and  by  the 
free,  generous  inspiration  which  pervades  the  entire  body, 
it  bears  an  aspect  of  moral  beauty — nay,  of  moral  sub- 
limity— beyond  almost  any  convocation  our  Church,  or 
even  our  country  has  witnessed.  Who  has  ever  seen  a 
gathering  hke  this?  Ovations  to  heroes,  and  statesmen, 
and  authors  are  no  novelty,  but  here  is  the  spontaneous 
Jiomage  paid  to  a  simple  teacher  of  God's  Word,  and  de- 
fender of  his  truth,  by  a  vast  assemblage,  worthily  repre- 
senting the  highest  culture,  and  the  most  exalted  moral 
worth  of  our  land.  No  man  of  our  times  has  received  a 
tribute  comprising,  in  an  equal  degree,  the  choice  ele- 
ments that  are  blended  here.  And,  my  beloved  friend 
and  brother,  there  is  but  one  name  among  the  living  that 
could  have  drawn  this  concourse  together.  Nor  is  this 
all.  What  we  see,  imposing  as  it  is,  is  as  nothing  to  what 
we  do- not  see. 

Of  the  twenty-seven  hundred  men  who  have  sat  at 
your  feet,  there  are  few  in  the  field  who  are  not  here  in 
spirit  to-day.  The  wires  are  up,  and  there  is  a  sweet 
tide  of  thought  and  sympathy  flowing  to  us  at  this  hour 
from  our  toiling  brethren  in  Europe,  in  Africa,  in  Eastern 
Asia,  in  South  America,  and  in  the  Isles  of  the  Sea.  It 
is  not  less  for  them  I  speak  than  for  the  hundreds  of  your 
students  who  are  present,  when  I  say  we  rejoice  with 
you  in  this  Jubilee ;  from  our  heart  of  hearts  we  thank 
you  for  the  priceless  benefits  we  have  received  at  your 
hands ;  and  we  praise  God  for  all  that  affluence  of  bless- 
ings which  he  has  bestowed  upon  you,  and  through  you 
upon  his  Church.  Do  not  imagine,  however,  that  we 
have  come  together  merely  to  recognize  in  you  the  great 
expositor  and  defender  of  the  faith  once  dehvered  to  the 


46  ADDRESSES. 

saints.  I  appeal  to  3^011,  Fathers  and  Brethren,  that  it  is 
not  this  sentiment  only,  nor  mainly,  which  throbs  in  our 
breasts  to-day.  Beheld  from  a  distance,  even  friendly 
eyes  see  on  this  ancient  hill  simply  a  giant  oak,  with  its 
grand  old  branches  swaying  to  the  winds  of  heaven. 
But  to  us,  branches  and  trunk  alike  are  so  covered  with 
vines,  and  flow^ers,  and  clustering  fruits,  that  we  scarcely 
U'ot  of  the  massive  props  that  are  underneath.  And  so, 
whatever  of  honest  admiration  we  may  feel  for  our  gifted 
master,  it  is  not  that  which  brings  us  here,  but  the  affec- 
tion rather  which  we  cherish  for  him  as  an  unselfish  and 
sympathizing  friend.  If  the  homely  phrase  may  be  al- 
lowed, while  we  honor  him  for  the  great  head  which  God 
has  given  him,  we  love  him  for  his  still  greater  heart. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  type  of  theology  taught 
in  this  Seminary.  It  has  two  leading  characteristics.  In 
the  first  place,  the  principle  upon  which  it  rests,  and 
which  underlies  every  part  and  parcel  of  the  lofty  super- 
structure, is  the  absolute,  universal,  and  exclusive  supre- 
macy of  the  Word  of  God  as  the  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice. A  censorious  critic  said  the  other  day,  derisively, 
in  reviewing  the  volumes  of  Theology  lately  published : 
"  It  is  enough  for  Dr.  Hodge  to  believe  a  thing  to  be  true 
that  he  finds  it  in  the  Bible !  "  We  accept  the  token. 
Dr.  Hodge  has  never  got  beyond  the  Bible.  It  contains 
every  jot  and  tittle  of  his  theology.  And  woe  be  to  this 
Seminary  whenever  any  man  shall  be  called  to  fill  one  of 
its  chairs,  who  gets  his  theology  from  any  other  source. 
The  second  characteristic  of  this  system  is  that  it  is  a 
Christology.  Christ  is  its  central  sun ;  its  pervading 
element ;  the  stem  from  which  every  thing  in  dogma,  in 
precept,  in  religious  experience,  radiates,  and  towards 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    H.    A.    BOARDMAN.  47- 

which  every  thing-  returns.  Not  as  a  mere  anatomy  does 
Christ  dwell  here — the  crown  of  a  speculative  organism, 
symmetrical  and  complete,  but  without  flesh  and  blood 
and  vitality.  Rather  is  He  the  living  soul  that  animates, 
and  guides,  and  hallows  the  whole.  If  a  theology  must 
needs  take  somewhat  of  its  essential  tone  from  the  temper 
of  its  expounder,  who  can  marvel  that  the  theology  of  this 
institution  should  be  instinct  with  a  gentle,  loving,  hum- 
ble, Christ-like  spirit  ? 

To  be  permitted  to  set  forth  and  inculcate  a  system 
like  this,  even  in  the  ordinary  routine  of  personal  labor,  is 
no  trivial  privilege.  But  what  honor,  beloved  Brother,  has 
God  put  upon  you  !  For  fifty  years  you  have  been  training 
men  to- preach  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  to 
their  fellow-sinners.  The  teacher  of  teachers,  your  pupils 
have  become  Professors  in  numerous  Colleges  and  Semi- 
naries at  home  and  abroad.  Not  to  speak  of  one  or  two 
thousand  pastors,  who  are  exerting  an  ameliorating  in- 
fluence upon  this  nation  more  potent  than  that  of  an  equal 
number  of  men  belonging  to  any  other  calling,  you  are 
helping,  through  your  students,  to  educate  a  great  body 
of  Christian  ministers,  not  a  few  of  whom  are  to  be  em- 
ployed in  laying  the  foundations  of  Christianity  in  pagan 
lands.  And  now  there  is  superadded  that  which  all  your 
friends  regard  as  the  crowning  mercy  of  your  life,  viz. : 
that  health  and  strength  have  been  given  you  to  complete 
and  publish  the  only  comprehensive  work  on  Systematic 
Theology  in  our  own  or  any  other  language,  which  com- 
prises the  latest  results  of  sound  scriptural  exegesis,  dis- 
cusses the  great  themes  of  the  Augustinian  system  from 
an  evangehcal  standpoint,  and  deals  satisfactorily  v^dth 
the    sceptical    speculations   of    modern   philosophy'   and 


48  ADDRESSES. 

science.  In  thus  supplying  what  was  confessedly,  in  the 
way  of  authorship,  the  most  urgent  want  of  Protestant 
Christendom,  you  have  extended  indefinitely  the  range 
of  your  beneficent  power. 

Your  Theology  must  soon  become  the  Hand-Book  of 
all  students  of  the  Reformed  faith  who  speak  the  English 
tongue.  Where  you  have  taught  scores,  you  will  now 
teach  hundreds ;  and  where  you  have  taught  hundreds, 
you  will  teach  thousands.  Thus,  through  your  pupils, 
dispersed  over  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  through 
this  great  work,  comprising  your  mature  views  in  the 
noblest  of  all  sciences,  is  your  influence  extending  in  ever- 
multiplying,  ever-widening,  concentric  circles,  until  the 
mind  is  awed  in  attempting  to  conceive,  not  of  its  possi- 
ble, but  of  its  certain  results,  as  the  ages  come  and  go. 
That  you  should  live  to  see  this  mighty  mechanism  in 
motion — to  guide  into  so  many  of  its  countless  channels 
this  broad  stream  from  the  Fountain  of.  living  waters,  is 
a  distinction  so  rare  and  so  exalted  that  we  cannot  but 
look  upon  you  as  a  man  greatly  beloved  of  God,  and 
honored  as  He  has  honored  scarcely  any  other  individual 
of  our  age.  When  He  has  thus  spoken,  we  have  no  right 
to  be  silent.  We  render  the  praise  to  Him  whose  provi- 
dence and  grace  have  made  you  what  you  are,  and  given 
you  to  us  and  to  His  Church.  Again  do  we  offer  our 
thanksgivings  for  all  that  He  has  done  and  is  doing  for 
our  Seminary,  for  the  Church,  and  for  the  world  through 
your  instrumentality.  Again  with  one  heart  and  voice 
do  we,  the  Directors,  Trustees,  and  Alumni  of  the  Semi- 
nary, the  Faculties  and  graduates  of  sister  institutions, 
the  representatives  of  the  other  Hberal  professions,  and 
your  friends  of  every  name  and  calling  here  assembled. 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    HODGE.  49 

congratulate  you  on  this  auspicious  anniversary,  and  pay 
you  the  tribute  of  our  grateful  love.  "  The  Lord  bless 
you,  and  keep  you.  The  Lord  make  His  face  to  shine 
upon  you,  and  be  gracious  unto  j'ou.  The  Lord  lift  up 
His  countenance  upon  you,  and  give  you  peace  ! " 

As  Dr.  Hodge  rose  to  reply,  the  audience  spon- 
taneously rose,  and  a  large  portion  remained  standing 
until  he  had  finished  his  response,  which  was  as  fol- 
lows: 

Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Directors  and  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  Friends  from  abroad  who  have 
honored  this  occasion  by  your  presence,  and  dear 
Brethren  of  the  Alumni,  I  greet  you. 

A  man  is  to  be  commiserated  who  is  called  upon  to 
attempt  the  impossible.  The  certainty  of  failure  does  not 
free  him  from  the  necessity  of  the  effort.  It  is  impossible 
that  I  should  make  you  understand  the  feelings  which 
swell  my  heart  almost  to  bursting.  Language  is  an  im- 
perfect vehicle  of  thought ;  as  an  expression  of  emotion  it 
is  utterly  inadequate.  We  say,  "  I  thank  you,"  to  a  ser- 
vant who  hands  us  a  glass  of  water ;  and  we  thank  God 
for  our  salvation.  The  same  word  must  answer  these 
widely  different  purposes ;  yet  there  is  no  other.  When 
I  say  I  thank  you  for  all  your  respect,  confidence)  and 
love,  I  say  nothing,  I  am  powerless,  I  can  only  bow 
down  before  you  with  tearful  gratitude,  and  call  on  God 
to  bless  you,  and  to  reward  you  a  hundredfold  for  all  your 
goodness. 

Allow  me  to  say  one  word.  I  have  been  fifty  years 
connected  with  this  Seminary  as  professor.     During  all 

4 


50  ADDRESSES. 

'I   . 

those  years  no  student  has  ever  hurt  my  feehngs  by  any 
unkind  word  or  act.  You  are  disposed  to  cover — to 
overwhelm  me  with  your  commendations.  It  is  you  who 
should  be  commended  and  blessed. 

But  I  am  not  here  to  speak  of  myself.  Let  me  speak 
of  the  Seminary.  Brethren,  I  too  am  an  Alumnus,  I  share 
your  feelings.  We  love  our  Alma  Mater,  not  because  she 
is  fairer,  richer,  or  better  than  other  mothers,  but  because 
she  is  our  Mother. 

Dr.  Board  man  has  anticipated  in  part  what  I  wished  to 
say.  Princeton  Seminary  is  what  it  is,  and  what,  I  trust 
it  will  ever  continue  to  be,  because  Archibald  Alexander 
and  Samuel  Miller  were  what  they  were. 

The  law  of  the  fixedness  and  transmissibility  of  types 
pervades  all  the  works  of  God.  The  wheat  we  now 
grow,  grew  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  before  the  pyramids 
were  built.  Every  nation  of  the  earth  is  now  what  it  is, 
because  of  the  character  of  its  ancestors.  Every  State  of 
our  Union  owes  its  present  character  to  that  of  its  original 
settlers.  This  holds  good  even  of  counties.  Before  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  a  whole  church  with  its  pastor 
emigrated  from  Massachusetts  to  Liberty  County,  Geor- 
gia ;  and  that  county  is  the  Eden  of  Georgia  to  this 
day.  It  is  a  proverb  that  the  child  is  father  of  the  man. 
The  same  law  controls  the  life  of  institutions.  What  they 
are  during  their  forming  period,  they  continue  to  be. 
This  is  the  reason  why  this  Institution  owes  its  character 
to  Dr.  Alexander  and  Dr.  Miller.  Their  controlling  in- 
fluence is  not  to  be  referred  so  much  to  their  learning,  or 
to  their  superior  abilities,  as  to  their  character  and 
principles. 

It  was  of  course  not  peculiar  to  them  that  they  were 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    HODGE.  5 1 

sincere,  spiritual,  Christian  men.  This  may  be  said  of 
the  founders  of  all  our  Theological  Seminaries.  But 
there  are  different  types  of  religion  even  among  true  be- 
lievers. The  religion  of  St.  Bernard  and  of  John  Wesley  ; 
of  Jeremy  Taylor  and  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  although 
.essentially  the  same,  had  in  each  case  its  peculiar  charac- 
ter. Every  great  historical  Church  has  its  own  type  of 
piety.  As  there  are  three  persons  in  the  Trinity,  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  there  appear  to 
be  three  general  forms  of  religion  among  evangelical 
Christians.  There  are  some  whose  religious  experience 
is  determined  mainly  by  what  is  taught  in  the  Scriptures 
concerning  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  dwell  upon  his  inward 
work  on  the  heart,  on  his  indwelling,  his  illumination, 
on  his  life-giving  power;  they  yield  themselves  passively 
to  His  influence  to  exalt  them  into  fellowship  with  God. 
Such  men  are  disposed  more  or  less  to  mysticism. 

There  are  others  whose  religious  life  is  determined 
more  by  their  relation  to  the  Father,  to  God  as  God  ; 
who  look  upon  Him  as  a  sovereign,  or  law-giver ;  who 
dwell  upon  the  grounds  of  obligation,  upon  responsibility 
and  ability,  and  upon  the  subjective  change  by  which  the 
sinner  passes  from  a  state  of  rebellion  to  that  of  obe- 
dience. 

Then  there  are  those  in  whom  the  form  of  religion,  as  Dr. 
Boardman  has  said,  is  distinctively  Christological.  I  see 
around  me  Alumni  whose  heads  are  as  grey  as  my  own. 
They  will  unite  with  me  in  testifying  that  this  is  the  form 
of  religion  in  which  we  were  trained.  While  our  teachers 
did  not  dissuade  us  from  looking  within  and  searching  for 
evidences  of  the  Spirit's  work  in  the  heart,  they  con- 
stantly directed   us  to  look  only  unto  Jesus — Jehovah 


52  ADDRESSES. 

Jesus — Him  in  whom  are  united  all  that  is  infinite  and 
awful  indicated  by  the  name  Jehovah;  and  all  that  is 
human,  and  tender,  and  sympathetic,  forbearing  and  lov- 
ing, implied  in  the  name  Jesus.  If  any  student  went  to 
Dr.  Alexander,  in  a  state  of  despondence,  the  venerable 
mao  was  sure  to  tell  him,  "  Look  not  so  much  within.^ 
Look  to  Christ.  Dwell  on  his  person,  on  his  work,  on  his 
promises,  and  devote  yourself  to  his  service,  and  you  will 
soon  find  peace." 

When  I  was  about  leaving  Berlin  on  my  return  to 
America,  the  friends  whom  God  had  given  me  in  that 
city  were  kind  enough  to  send  me  an  Album,  in  which 
they  had  severally  written  their  names,  and  a  few  lines  as 
remarks.  What  Neander  wrote  was  in  Greek,  and  in- 
cluded these  words :  Ovdev  hv  tavru)  notJiing  in  oiirself 
ev  Kvpioi  Ttdvra  all  things  in  the  Lord  ;  (^  fiovG)  dovXeveiv  66^a 
ml  Kavxqua  %vhom  alo7ie  to  serve  is  a  glory  and  a  Joy.  These 
words  our  old  professors  would  have  inscribed  in  letters 
of  gold  over  the  portals  of  this  Seminary,  there  to  re- 
main in  undiminished  brightness  as  long  as  the  name  of 
Princeton  lingers  in  the  memory  of  man. 

Again,  Drs.  Alexander  and  Miller  were  not  speculative 
men.  They  were  not  given  to  new  methods  or  new 
theories.  They  were  content  with  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints.  I  am  not  afraid  to  say  that  a  new  idea 
never  originated  in  this  Seminary.  Their  theological 
method  was  very  simple.  The  Bible  is  the  word  of  God. 
That  is  to  be  assumed  or  proved.  If  granted  ;  then  it 
follows,  that  what  the  Bible  says,  God  says.  That  ends 
the  matter. 

There  recently  resided  in  this  village  a  venerable  lady, 
as  distinguished  for  her  strength  of  character  as  for  her 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    HODGE.  53 

piety.  A  sceptical  friend  once  said  to  her,  "  My  dear 
madam,  it  is  impossible  that  a  woman  of  your  sense  can 
believe  that  story  in  the  Bible,  about  the  whale  swallow- 
ing Jonah."  She  replied  with  emphasis,  "Judge,  if  the 
Bible  said  that  Jonah  swallowed  the  whale,  I  would  be- 
lieve it."  That  may  have  been  said  by  others ;  I  know 
it  was  said  by  her.  I  am  not  authorized  to  affirm  that 
Dr.  Alexander  would  say  the  same  thing.  But  he  would 
come  pretty  near  it.  And  he  is  no  true  Princetonian  who 
will  not  come  as  near  to  it  as  he  can. 

But  admitting  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God,  there 
are  different  principles  of  interpretation  which  may  be 
applied  to  it.  Instead  of  understanding  it  in  its  plain 
historical  sense,  there  are  those  who  say  that  the  letter 
killeth,  the  spirit  maketh  alive ;  that  the  literal  sense 
amounts  to  nothing ;  that  it  is  the  hidden  mystical  sense 
which  alone  is  of  value.  Others  adopt  what  may  be 
called  the  philosophical  method.  They  admit  that  there 
are  doctrines  in  the  Bible,  which  are  the  objects  of  faith 
in  the  common  people ;  but  these  are  only  the  forms 
under  which  lie  abstract  truths,  which  it  is  the  business 
of  the  philosopher  to  elicit.  He  throws  the  doctrinal  for- 
mulas of  Christianity  into  his  retort  and  transmutes  them 
into  gas;  thus  losing  the  substance  with  the  form.  Thus 
the  doctrine  of  Providence,  or  the  control  of  all  events  by 
an  extramundane,  personal  God,  who  governs  by  his 
voluntary  agency  the  operations  of  second  causes,  work- 
ing with  them  or  without  them,  so  that  it  rains  at  one 
time  and  not  at  another,  according  to  his  good  pleasure ; 
all  this  is  evaporated  into  cosmical  arrangements,  leaving 
us  no  other  God  to  pray  to  than  the  forces  of  nature. 
The  same  principle  is  applied  to  the  doctrines  of  redemp- 


54  ADDRESSES. 

tion.  We  were  taught  by  our  venerable  fathers  to  take 
the  Bible  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  plainly  intended  to 
be  understood. 

The  principles  above  stated  are  those  on  which  those 
who  founded  this  Institution  acted.  These  are  the  prin- 
ciples which  have  determined  its  character,  and  give  it 
its  hold  on  the  hearts  of  its  Alumni. 

Brethren,  I  said  I  am  an  Alumnus.  I  know  the  feel- 
ings with  which  you  revisit  your  Alma  Mater.  Those 
feelings  are  very  complex,  including  those  with  which 
children  return  to  the  home  of  their  childhood,  and  those 
with  which  a  man,  with  uncovered  head  and  unsandaled 
feet,  enters  the  cemetery  of  his  fathers.  Here  are  the 
tombs  of  Dickinson  and  Burr,  of  Edwards,  of  Davies  and 
of  their  illustrious  successors  in  the  presidency  of  our 
sister-institution.  Here  lie  the  ashes  of  Archibald  Alex- 
ander and  of  Samuel  Miller.  The  memory  of  these  men 
constitutes  the  aureola  which  surrounds  the  brows  of 
Princeton,  a  glory  which  excites  no  envy,  and  yet  attracts 
all  eyes. 

After  the  benediction  had  been  pronounced  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Musgrave,  of  Philadelphia,  the  meeting  of  the 
Alumni  for  which  the  original  plan  and  invitation  had 
made  provision,  was  called  to  order.  The  following 
constitution  based  on  that  of  an  old  organization  of 
the  Alumni  was  adopted : 

T.  The  name  of  this  Association  shall  be  The  Alumni 
Association  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary. 

n.  All  who  have  been  Students  in  the  Seminary  shall 


CONSTITUTION.  55 

be  regarded,  if  they  please,  as  members  of  this  Associa- 
tion. 

III.  The  object  of  the  Association  shall  be  the  pro- 
motion of  brotherly  love  among  its  members,  and  the 
advancement  of  the  interests  of  the  Seminary. 

IV.  The  Professors,  Directors,  and  Trustees  of  the 
Seminary  shall  be  regarded  as  ex-officio  members  of  this 
Association. 

V.  The  officers  of  the  Association  shall  be  a  President, 
a  Vice-President,  a  Secretary,  and  a  Treasurer,  who  shall 
be  elected  annually,  and  continue  in  office  until  others 
are  chosen  to  succeed  them. 

VI.  The  officers,  with  three  other  members  to  be 
annually  chosen,  shall  be  an  Executive  Committee  with 
power  to  attend  to  the  business  of  the  Association,  in  the 
intervals  of  its  meetings. 

VII.  The  Stated  Meetings  of  the  Association  shall  be 
held  annually  in  Princeton  on  the  same  day  with  the 
regular  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Directors  at  the  close  of 
the  Seminary  year,  at  such  hour  as  may  be  appointed 
from  year  to  year. 

VIII.  Special  Meetings  of  the  Association  shall  be 
called  by  the  President  on  the  written  request  of  five 
members,  notice  thereof  being  given  in  two  religious 
papers  at  least  two  weeks  previous  to  its  occurrence. 


56  ADDRESSED 

The  following  officers  were  chosen  for  the  ensuing 
year :    • 

President — Rev.  John  C.  Backus,  D.D. 

Vice-President — Rev.  Charles  K.  Imbrie,  D.D. 

Secretary — Rev.  Wm.  E.  Schenck,  D.D. 

Treasurer — Rev.  William  Harris. 

Executive  Committee  —  The  President,  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  with  Rev.  W.  Henr}'-  Green,  D.D.,  Rev.  W. 
C.  Cattell,  D.D.,  and  Rev.  S.  D.  Alexander,  D.D. 

Professor  Green  reported  the  result  of  the  endeavor 
to  secure  an  endowment  for  the  "  Charles  Hodge  Pro- 
fessorship." The  afternoon  meeting  was  conducted 
under  the  auspices  of  the  newly  organized  Association, 
and  at  its  close  the  Association  adjourned  to  meet  next 
year  in  connection  with  the  Anniversary  Exercises  of 

1873. 
At  3:30  p.  M.,  the  appointed   hour,  Rev.  John  C. 

Backus,  D.D.,  of  Baltimore,  the    President    of    the 

Alumni  Association  took  the  chair,  and  announced 

the  object  of  the  afternoon's  gathering  as  follows : 

Alumni  and  Friends  of  Princeton  Seminary, — We 
are  met  here  after  the  interesting  exercises  of  the  morn- 
ing, and  the  hour  spent  around  the  festal  board,  to  ex- 
press what  is  in  our  hearts  with  reference  to  this  long  and 
honorable  service  of  our  father,  brother,  teacher  and  friend. 
Let  me  then  say  to  you  that  we  have  here  representatives 
from  various  classes  during  the  whole  history  of  the  Semi- 
nary, and  also  from  other  Institutions  and  denominations, 
and  some  from  other  lands,  who  have  come  here  to  sympa- 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.   JOHN    C.    BACKUS.  57 

thize  and  unite  with  us  in  paying-  this  tribute.  The  time  of 
service  we  have  come  to  commemorate  is  indeed  a  long  one, 
but  the  hours  are  very  few  and  short.  I  am  directed  by  the 
Committee  who  have  had  charge  of  the  arrangements,  to 
say  to  all,  that  the  hearts  of  all  are  full  and  many  lips  will 
desire  to  express  their  congratulations  ;  and  to  ask  our 
speakers  to  remember  that  after  each  one  a  number  will 
come ;  and  though  we  do  not  limit  their  time,  unless  you 
choose  to  adopt  the  hour  rule,  [laughter,]  we  only  remind 
you  of  this  state  of  things.  The  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee will  read  the  order  under  which  we  are  to  proceed. 

In  accordance  with  the  proposed  plan  the  President 
first  announced  the  presence  of  Rev.  J.  L.  Porter, 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Belfast,  Ireland,  as  a  special  represen- 
tative of  the  Assembly's  College  in  that  city.  Dr. 
Porter,  who  received  a  very  hearty  greeting,  spoke  as 
follows,  in  fulfilment  of  his  commission  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Christian  Friends, —  I  have 
been  commissioned  by  the  Faculty  of  Assembly's  College, 
Belfast,  to  read  to  you,  and  present  to  the  Board  of  Mana- 
gers, this  letter.     [The  letter  was  then  read.*] 

Sir,  I  esteem  it  one  of  the  very  highest  honors  that 
could  be  conferred  upon  me  to  have  an  opportunity,  in 
person,  of  presenting  this  letter  to  you,  and  to  your  dis- 
tinguished colleague,  Dr.  Hodge.  It  may,  perhaps,  tend 
to  give  some  faint  idea  of  the  deep  interest  entertained 
upon   this   subject   by  my  College,  and,  indeed,  by  the 

*  For  this  and  the  other  congratulatory  addresses,  and  extracts  from  the 
correspondence  which  has  accumulated  in  the  hands  of  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements,  see  Part  III, 


58  ADDRESSES. 

whole  Church  to  which  I  belong,  when  I  state  that  the 
Faculty,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Theological  Com- 
mittee of  the  Assembly,  requested  me — I  may  even  say, 
enjoined  me — to  leave  Ireland  before  the  close  of  the  col- 
legiate session,  in  order  that  I  might  be  present  with  you 
this  day.  [Applause.]  I  stand  here,  probably,  the  only 
representative  from  the  old  world.  I  know  not  whether 
I  am  or  not,  but  I  believe  I  am  the  only  representative 
from  the  old  world  of  the  feeling  entertained  by  theolo- 
gians on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  towards  Dr. 
Hodge  and  the  distinguished  Faculty  of  Princeton.  I 
believe,  sir,  that  I  shall  not  go  beyond  the  boundaries  of 
my  commission  ;  I  am  sure,  sir,  that  I  shall  not  exceed 
what  would  be  the  desire  of  all  those  who  live  beyond  the 
sea,  if  I  here,  at  this  time,  venture  to  communicate  to  you 
and  to  Dr.  Hodge  the  high  feelings  of  regard,  esteem,  and 
honor  entertained  toward  him  by  the  whole  body  of 
evangelical  Protestantism  in  Great  Britain  and  in  Europe. 
Sir,  we  are  separated  by  the  broad  Atlantic  ;  but  after 
the  eloquent  address  which  I  heard  this  day,  and  after 
reading  the  works  which  Dr.  Hodge  has  given  to  the 
world,  I  need  not  say  that  we  are  one.  Truth  knows  no  geo- 
graphical boundaries  ;  the  unity  of  the  faith  can  never  be 
affected  by  the  accidents  of  time,  or  space,  or  circumstan- 
ces. Luther,  Calvin,  Knox — and,  I  shall  add,  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards— though  separated  by  nationality — though  the  re- 
presentatives, perhaps,  to  some  extent  of  different  coun- 
tries, and  though  divided  by  time  as  well  as  by  space,  5^et 
were  one  in  the  noblest  and  in  the  best  sense.  And  now, 
sir,  the  countries  of  Luther,  of  Calvin,  of  Knox,  this  day 
desire  to  join  with  the  intellect  and  learning  of  the  great 
nation  to  which  Edwards  belonged  in  conveying  to  Dr. 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.   J.    L.    PORTER.  59 

Hodge  a  tribute  of  their  united  esteem,  and  in  recogniz- 
ing in  him  a  true  son  of  the  great  fathers  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. 

Sir,  the  name  of  Dr.  Hodge  has  been  known  in  Great 
"  Britain  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century.  I  remember 
well,  when  a  student  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and 
when  I  had  the  honor  of  sitting  at  the  feet  of  the  illustri- 
ous Chalmers,  even  then,  old  story  as  it  is,  among  those 
authors  to  whom  Dr.  Chalmers  directed  the  special  atten- 
tion of  the  students  under  his  care,  was  that  distinguished 
man  whom  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  for  the  first 
tirpe  this  day — Dr.  Hodge.  [Applause.]  Sir,  the  founda- 
tions of  his  European  fame  were  laid  by  his  work  upon 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  As  year  after  year  passed, 
polished  stones,  hewn  by  him  from  the  rock  of  truth,  were 
added  to  the  structure;  then  the  pillars,  stately  and  stead- 
fast, were  made  of  those  noble  Princeton  Essays  ;  and 
now,  at  last,  the  hands  of  the  venerable  theologian  are 
placing  the  top-stone  of  Systematic  Divinity  upon  that 
structure,  and  thus  consecrating  the  whole  to  the  service 
of  our  common  God. 

Perhaps,  sir,  if  I  am  not  trespassing  too  much  upon  your 
time,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  there  are  special  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  our  condition  on  the  east  of 
the  Atlantic  which  render  the  services  of  Dr.  Hodge  par- 
ticularly valuable  at  the  present  time.  We,  sir,  in  Britain, 
and  indeed  in  Europe,  have  at  the  present  moment  two 
great,  two  gigantic  systems  of  error  to  contend  against. 
We  have  Popery  on  the  one  hand,  we  have  Infidelity  on 
the  other ;  and  in  the  battle  which  we  have  to  wage  with 
each  of  those,  Dr.  Hodge  has  rendered  to  us,  as  he  has 
rendered  to  you,  the  most  signal  service.  Sir,  we  can  look 


6o  ADDRESSES. 

back  over  the  pages  of  history  and  we  can  see  how  Mar- 
tin Luther  grasped  the  taUsman  of  Divine  truth  and  smote 
that  colossal  fabric  of  error  which  had  so  long  enslaved 
Europe ;  and  now  we  see  after  the  lapse  of  centuries  that 
same  talisman  taken  up  by  the  hand  of  a  master  among 
yourselves,  who  has  not  only  wielded  it  for  the  defence  of 
truth  and  the  overthrow  of  error,  but  has  fitted  it  for  the 
hand  of  thousands  throughout  the  world,  and  has,  in  his 
"  Systematic  Theology,"  put  into  our  hands  that  same 
instrument  by  which,  we  trust,  under  the  Divine  guidance 
and  by  the  Divine  blessing,  even  yet  to  smite  to  the  earth 
the  colossal  fabric  of  Popish  tyranny  in  poor,  oppressed 
Ireland !  And  then  we  have  to  contend  with  infidelity — 
infidelity  with  its  insidious  teaching — infidelity  with  its 
false  and  fatal  philosophy  —  infidelity  that  would  strip 
the  Bible  of  all  that  is  noble  and  true — infidelity  that 
would  extract  from  it  the  Divine  Hfe-principle  and  leave 
it  a  cold,  dead,  withered  skeleton  ;  and  Dr.  Hodge  has 
taught  us,  as  no  man  taught  us  before,  with  clearness, 
with  precision,  with  logical  power,  how  we  are  to  meet- 
this  false  system,  and  how  we  are  to  show  to  Darwin,  and 
Colenso,  and  others  of  that  school,  that  we  have  a  philoso- 
phy better  than  theirs,  that  we  have  principles  nobler 
than  theirs,  and  that  we  are  able  to  meet  them  on  their 
own  ground,  and  show  that  the  truths  of  theology  are  in 
accordance  with  the  very  highest  achievements  of  human 
genius  and  human  learning.  Need  I  say  more  in  respect 
to  services  Dr.  Hodge  has  rendered  to  us  and  to  the  world. 
Surel}''  we  are  justified,  surely  we  are  bound,  surely  we 
are  constrained  to  convey  to  you  from  Britain,  from  Ire- 
land, from  Europe,  the  tribute  of  our  thanks  to  Dr. 
Hodge,  and  of  our  congratulation  upon  all  the  honor  he 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.   JAMES    M'^COSH.  6 1 

has  done  to  this  College,  upon  all  the  services  he  has  ren- 
dered to  your  noble  country,  and  to  the  whole  theologi- 
cal world.  May  I  be  permitted  to  say,  in  conclusion,  1 
rejoice  to  see  the  old  man  still  strong  ;  I  was  rejoiced  to 
hear  the  old  man  still  eloquent,  and  to  feel .  that  those 
tones  which  have  entered  the  hearts,  as  I  know,  of  so 
many  of  his  students,  are  plaintive  and  persuasive  as  they 
were  of  old.  I  trust  that  the  influence  he  has  exercised, 
and  the  services  he  has  rendered,  will  be  continued  to  a 
distant  day,  and  that  he  may  be  long  spared,  an  ornament 
of  this  Seminary,  and  honor  to  your  country,  and  a  bless- 
ing to  the  world.  * 

Rev.  James "McCosh,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  was  next  introduced,  to  pre- 
sent others  of  the  congratulatory  addresses  which  had 
been  received  from  abroad.     He  spoke  as  follows  : 

I  appear  for  three  sisters  who  regret  very  much  that 
they  cannot  be  here  this  day  to  speak  for  themselves. 
They  are  daughters  of  that  old  Church  of  Scotland  who 
is  the  mother  of  us  all. 

The  oldest  was  born  in  stormy  times,  was  baptized  in 
the  blood  of  martyrs  and  cradled  in  the  rocks  of  her 
country,  and  she  has  ever  since  retained  the  impress  she 
received  in  her  younger  days,  and  you  may  see  it  in  her 
gravity,  her  high  toned  principle  and  spirit  of  self-sacri- 

*  Dr.  Porter  had  intended  to  include  in  his  tribute  the  announcement  that 
"  Dr.  Hodge's  '  Systematic  Theology,'  has,  with  the  full  concurrence  of  the 
Faculty,  been  adopted  as  the  text-book  in  the  Assembly's  College,  Belfast, 
the  best  proof  we  can  give  of  the  high  value  we  attach  to  that  noble  con- 
tribution to  Theological  literature." 


62  ADDRESSES. 

fice.  She  is  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scot- 
land,  and  she  is  the  descendant  and  the  heir  of  the  Cove- 
nanting Church  whose  sons  were  hunted  Hke  wild  beasts 
on  the  mountains.  She  has  set  a  noble  example  to  her 
younger  sisters.  She  has  not  only  employed  an  Old 
Mortality,  to  renew  the  defaced  tomb-stones  of  her  mar- 
tyred heroes,  but  she  has  held  forth  to  all  lands  and  to 
succeeding  generations  the  truths  involved  in  her  battle- 
cry,  "  Christ's  Crown  and  Covenant."  The  literary  men 
who  write  history  have  never  known  what  Great  Britain 
and  America  owe  to  that  old  Covenanting  Church  which 
for  twenty-eight  years,  when  the  Puritans  were  contented 
with  a  passive  resistance,  bade  open  defiance  to  the  tyran- 
ny of  Charles  II.,  and  James  II.,  and  withstood  the  whole 
Cavaher  strength  of  England,  and  with  the  blue  flag  wav- 
ing over  them  defended  the  ark  of  God  in  their  moun- 
tain fastnesses  till  a  better  time  came.  Their  blood  dyed 
red  the  heather  hills  of  their  country,  but  they  were  never 
conquered  and  their  principles  yet  live  and  permeate 
Scotland  and  have  gone  into  other  lands ;  for  to  them  and 
their  movement  we  owe  the  Scotch  and  the  Scotch-Irish 
population  and  the  Presbyterian  church  in  this  land  ;  and 
these  it  might  be  shown  have  acted  an  important  part  in 
promoting  a  spirit  of  lofty  independence  and  a  love  of 
libert}^  in  America.  Now  the  able  theological  professors 
of  that  Church  declare  that  Dr.  Hodge  is  the  ablest  liv- 
ing defender  of  those  great  Bible  truths  which  have  pro- 
duced and  fostered  what  is  greatest  and  noblest  in  Scot- 
land ;  and  they  have  instructed  me,  the  unworthy  descen- 
dant of  men  who  fought  at  Drumclog  and  Bothwell  Brig 
to  say  so  to  Dr.  Hodge  and  the  American  people. 

The  second  daughter  who  bids  me  speak  for  her  had 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    JAMES    McCOSH.  63 

also  to  face  tyranny  civil  and  ecclesiastical  in  her  young- 
er years.  It  is  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scot- 
land the  church  of  the  Erskines  and  of  Gillespie,  When 
the  rights  of  the  Christian  people  and  the  old  faith  of 
Scotland  were  being  trampled  on  by  a  worldly  government 
fostering  a  worldly  set  of  ministers,  she  had  the  courage 
to  secede  from  the  church  established  by  law,  and  to  or- 
ganize a  Christian  community  which  kept  the  fire  burn- 
ing on  the  altar  in  the  coldest  days  and  darkest  nights  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland.  Like  the  churches  in  this  coun- 
try she  has- long  disentangled  herself  from  all  State  con- 
nections, to  give  herself  wholly  to  the  work  of  propaga- 
ting the  Gospel.  At  first  poor  and  despised  like  her  Mas- 
ter, she  is  now,  having  been  blessed  of  God,  strong  and 
healthy,  and  numbers  upwards  of  600  congregations. 
But  in  the  days  of  her  prosperity  she  is  resolved  to  ad- 
here to  the  faith  that  cheered  and  sustained  her  in  the 
days  of  her  trial.  In  her  theological  school,  conducted  by 
learned  and  excellent  men,  she  uses  as  one  of  her  text- 
books the  "  Outlines  of  Theology,"  by  the  worthy  son  of 
the  worthy  sire  who  has  given  the  name  to  the  Princeton 
Theology.  And  now  through  her  metropoHtan  Presbyte- 
ry, which  on  this  point  may  be  regarded  as  speaking  the 
sentiments  governing  every  other  Presbytery,  she  joins 
this  day  in  the  congratulations  to  Dr.  Hodge. 

I  am  especially  drawn  toward  the  third  sister,  who  se- 
cured the  attachment  of  my  youth,  and  for  whom  I  still 
bear  a  very  tender  regard,  notwithstanding  the  connec- 
tions I  have  formed  in  this  country.  I  refer  now  to  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland  of  which  I  still  reckon  myself  a  min- 
ister. She  too  had  to  begin  her  life  with  a  deed  of  self- 
sacrifice.     Four  hundred  and  fifty  of  us  in  one  day  relin- 


64  ADDRESSES. 

quished  all  we  had  in  this  world,  and  this  without  know- 
ing how  we  were  to  be  sustained.  The  people  answered 
nobly  to  the  appeal  made  to  them,  and  catching  the  spirit 
of  self-sacrifice,  they  have  continued  by  means  of  a  Gene- 
ral Sustentation  Fund,  to  support  their  pastors  in  a  way 
which  no  other  unendowed  church  has  succeeded  in 
doing.  While  leaving  the  Established  Church,  the  Free 
Church  adheres  to  the  doctrinal  principles  of  the  old 
Church  of  Scotland.  She  looks  on  Charles  Hodge  and 
her  own  William  Cunningham,  as  the  greatest  theologi- 
ans of  this  age.  Nor  is  it  only  among  the  theologians  that 
the  name  of  Dr.  Hodge  is  known  and  appreciated ;  it  is 
esteemed  by  the  thinking  portion  of  the  common  people. 
I  remember  that  when  Hodge's  "  Way  of  Life  "  was  add- 
ed to  the  library  of  the  congregation  with  w^hich  I  was 
connected,  there  was  a  keen  competition  between  a  ser- 
vant girl  and  a  hand-loom  weaver  as  to  which  should  get 
the  first  reading.  The  professors  of  the  three  theological 
colleges  of  the  Free  Church,  at  Edinburgh,  at  Glasgow 
and  Aberdeen  have  honored  me  by  making  me  the  bearer 
of  this  address  signed  by  very  distinguished  names. 

These  three  churches  are  not  united  in  one,  but  they  are 
negotiating  for  this  purpose,  and  they  are  meanwhile 
joining  in  various  evangelistic  labors,  and  they  all  join  this 
day  in  bearing  this  testimony  in  favor  of  Dr.  Hodge  and 
his  theology.  I  think  that  in  all  this  we  have  proof  that 
the  head  and  the  heart  of  all  Scotland  are  sound,  and 
that  notwithstanding  the  attempt  made  by  some  to  make 
her  ape  the  Broad  Churchism  of  England,  a  process 
which  would  end  in  bringing  back  the  wretched  Moderat- 
ism  which  good  men  thought  that  they  had  buried  out 
of  sight.     Some  look  on  that  old  theology  as  the  Jews 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    HUGH    SMYTH.  65 

regarded  the  Saviour,  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground. 
And  it  is  indeed  a  root  well  planted  and  spreading  out 
roots  like  Lebanon,  and,  because  it  is  a  root  and  not  a 
mere  cut  flower  which  must  soon  wither,  bearing  new 
and  fresh  branches.  "  His  branches  shall  spread  and  his 
beauty  shall  be  as  the  olive  tree  and  his  smell  as  Leban- 
on." That  good  old  theology  seems  to  me  very  like  the 
character  of  him  whom  we  this  day  delight  to  honor,  and 
in  whom  we  have  the  clear  intellect,  the  fervent  faith, 
with  a  love  like  that  of  Jonathan,  "  passing  the  love  of 
women."  . 

Rev.  Hugh  Smyth,  of  Whitehouse,  (near  Belfast,) 
Ireland,  presented  an  address  from  Magee  College, 
Londonderry  Ireland,  portions  of  which  he  read,  and 
added : 

Permit  me.  Sir,  to  add  a  very  few  words  on  my  own 
behalf,  and  in  explanation  of  the  position  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  occupy  before  this  assemblage. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  authorities  of  Magee  College  to 
send  one  of  their  own  professors  to  this- celebration  in  token 
of  their  high  esteem  for  the  distinguished  divine,  whose 
writings  and  whose  name  are  as  well-known  in  Ireland  as 
they  are  in  New  Jersey.  But  the  professor  who  would 
have  received  the  commission  was  unable  to  leave  Ireland 
sufficiently  early  to  make  his  appearance  here  to-day.  It 
so  happened,  that  I  am  the  first  student  whose  theologi- 
cal education  was  completed  at  Magee  College,  and,  in 
addition  to  this,  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  have  taken  the 
whole  of  my  undergraduate  course  at  Nassau  Hall,  so  that 
it  was  considered  not  inappropriate  that  I  should  be  em- 
ployed in  the  pleasing  embassy  which  has  been  commit- 

5 


66  ADDRESSES. 

ted  to  me.     Sir,  I  hope  that  your  kindness  will  be  tolerant 
of  these  personal  allusions. 

When  referring  to  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Charles  Hodge, 
the  language  of  panegyric  is  excusable  only  when  it  as- 
sumes the  form  of  most  profound  gratitude.  And  any 
thing  that  I  can  say  in  regard  to  Dr.  Hodge  must  be 
based  upon  a  sense  of  personal  obligation.  And  yet  I  do 
not  regret  that  this  is  the  case,  for  I  have  learned  enough 
of  Dr.  Hodge  to  be  convinced  that  he  is  far  better  pleased 
to  knov/,  that  he  has  conferred  benefits  upon  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  Presbyterian  ministry,  than  that  he  has  elicited 
the  encomiums  of  the  captains  of  the  host  of  the  Presby- 
terian army.  I  came  here  to  say  that  the  rising  genera- 
tion of  Presbyterian  ministers  in  Ireland  are  being  train- 
ed in  that  old  theology  which  has  been  referred  to  so  fre- 
quently to-day,  and  which  has  been  so  long  taught  in  the 
Seminary  at  Princeton.  So  far  as  I  know  the  new-fangled 
theology  of  Germany  and  the  latitudinarian  school  of 
Oxford,  have  found  no  footing  whatever  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Ireland.  And  I  am  sure  that  the  writ- 
ings of  Dr.  Hodge  will  have  a  most  salutary  effect  in 
fortifying  the  theological  students  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  as  well  as  in  America,  against  that  spirit  of  rest- 
lessness which  is  satisfied  to  sacrifice  orthodoxy  for  the 
sake  of  novelty.  Sir,  in  Ireland  we  intend  to  go  on  in 
the  old  paths,  and  we  rejoice  to  know  that  one  of  the 
hands  that  shall  hold  the  lamp  to  our  feet  is  that  of  the 
illustrious  theologian  whom  we  are  met  this  day  to 
honor. 

That  I  have  been  permitted  to  take  a  part,  even  so 
humble  in  this  celebration,  I  consider  an  inestimable 
privilege,  and   I  shall  so  look  back  upon  it  as  long  as  I 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    JOSEPH    T.    SMITH.  6/ 

live,  and  am  spared  to  peruse  the  writings  of  our  eminent 
and  reverend  father.       , 

y 

Rev.  Joseph  T.  Smith,  D.D.,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  of 
the  Committee,  said : 

I  have  a  very  large  number  of  communications  of  the 
same  complexion,  which  have  been  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Committee,  some  of  them  from  hterary  and  theologi- 
cal institutions  in  all  sections  of  our  own  country,  some 
from  abroad.  There  is  one  from  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh, and  one  from  the  Professors  of  Theology  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  which  are  just 
the  echo  of  those  we  have  heard  from  other  parts  ot 
Great  Britain. 

Some  letters  I  should  be  glad  to  read.  We  have  them 
from  the  Theological  Seminaries  at  Bangor,  Boston,  New 
Haven,  Auburn,  the  Divinity  School  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  at  Philadelphia,  the  Lutheran  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  at  Gettysburg,  the  United  Presbyterian 
Seminary  of  the  Northwest,  the  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary of  Virginia,  from  the  Faculty  and  from  a  Committee 
of  the  Students  of  the  Seminary  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  the 
Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  at  Greenville, 
S.  C,  the  Theological  Department  of  Cumberland  Univer- 
sity at  Lebanon,  Tenn.,  Danville  Theological  Seminary, 
Ky.,  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  Ohio,  and  the  youngest 
born  of  all  our  Seminaries,  the  Presbyterian  Seminary  at 
San  Francisco,  Cal.* 


*  Deputations  were  also  present  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  day  from 
the  Reformed  Theological  Seminary,  at  New  Brunswick,  the  U.  P.  Semi- 
nary at  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  the  Drew  Theological  Seminary  at  Madison, 
N.  J.,  and  the  Crozer  Theological  Seminary  at  Upland,  Pa. 


68  ADDRESSES. 

Then  of  the  Colleges  we  have  communications  from 
Williams,  Amherst,  Dartmouth,  Brown,  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  Ursinus  College,  Pa.,  Columbian,  Hampden 
Sidney,  Miami  University,  the  Universities  of  Wooster, 
O.,  of  East  Tennessee  at  Knoxville,  and  of  Mississippi,  from 
Hanover  College,  Ind.,  and  Westminster  College,  Mo.* 

We  have  also  letters  from  individual  pupils  and  friends 
of  Dr.  Hodge,  who  regret  their  inability  to  be  with  us  to- 
day. 


Prof.  Henry  B.  Smith,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  New  York, 
was  announced  as  the  representative  of  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  and  said  in  response  to  the 
Chairman's  call : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren  : — It  is  only  the  acci- 
dent of  my  being  born  two  or  three  years  earlier  that  pre- 
vents you  from  hearing  some  more  eloquent  representa- 
■tive  of  our  institution ;  for  %ve  are  all  here.  [Applause.] 
I  think  that  we  are  the  banner  institution  in  coming  to 
celebrate  this  high  festival. 

How  rarely  comes  a  golden  wedding  !  How  much 
more  rare  is  the  semi-centennial  of  a  professor  even  in  a 
college !  There  is  one  accomplished  semi-centenarian  of 
a  College  in  New  England  whom  I  have  seen  here  to-day — 
my  former  instructor.!  And  there  is  also  present 
the  revered  and  venerable  recent  President  of  Nas- 
sau   Hall ;    long    may   he    still    live    to    see  the   grow- 

*The  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  Union  College,  Lafayette, 
Rutgers,  Pennsylvania  and  Bowdoin  were  also  represented  by  their  Presi- 
dents, or  other  members  of  their  Faculties. 

f  Prof.  A.  S.  Packard,  D.D.,  of  Bowdoin  College, 


ADDRESS    OF    PROF.  HENRY    B.  SMITH.  69 

ing  g-lory  of  the  College  he  has  nurtured  and  adorn- 
ed!  [Applause.]  But  for  the  first  time  in  America 
we  celebrate  to-day  the  semi-centennial  of  a  professor  in 
a  theological  institution.  It  is  a  matter  of  sincere  con- 
gratulation that  the  merit  is  as  incontestible  as  are  the 
years.  To  speak  on  such  an  occasion  is  embarrassing, 
because  there  is  so  rnuch  that  might  be  said,  because  there 
are  so  many  to  speak,  because  there  is  so  much  that  has 
already  been  said,  and  also  because  we  cannot  speak  of 
the  living  as  we  do  in  memory  of  the  departed,  nor  can 
we  speak  before  the  present  as  we  would  about  the 
absent.  But  after  all,  this  assemblage  itself,  is  the 
great  speech  of  this  occasion.  [Applause.]  All  these 
ministers  and  men  gathered  from  all  parts  of  our  land, 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  are  here  to  do  honor  to 
one  most  honorable  name,  to  testify  to  the  power  and  in- 
fluence of  a  long  and  noble  Hfe,  consecrated  to  the  highest 
welfare  of  our  country  as  well  as  to  the  service  of  the 
Church  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

We  have  not  come  together  to-day  merely  to  honor  the 
man  who  is  so  worthy  of  our  honor,  but  rather  to  i^ecog- 
nize  the  honor  which  has  been  laid  upon  him  by  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church.  It  is  an  occasion  for  us,  and  for  this 
Theological  Seminary  to  celebrate  that  divine  goodness, 
and  that  gracious  Providence  which  has  given  us  such  a 
life  and  such  a  character,  producing  results  so  wide- 
spread and  beneficent.  It  is  the  work  of  God's  grace 
and  favor  to  his  Church  which  to-day  we  would  chiefly 
celebrate, — in  training  a  man  under  such  circumstances, 
and  giving  him  so  great  success  in  his  labors,  and  ena- 
bling him  after  fifty  years  of  work  to  look  back  upon  it  all, 
and  tell  with  thankful  heart  what  the  Lord  hath  done  for 


70  ADDRESSES. 

him.  In  comparison  with  such  a  life  I  do  not  know  what 
glory  in  peace  or  war  can  be  called  greater,  or  more 
worthy  of  the  highest  style  of  manliness  or  manhood. 

God  chooses  his  instruments  ;  and  we  can  now  see 
for  half  a  century  what  has  been  the  method  of  his  Pro- 
vidence in  the  nurture  and  shaping  of  a  marked  life.  Born 
in  the  midst  of  Christian  influences,  nurtured  in  that 
Church  which  is  the  Christian  mother  of  us  all,  trained  in 
those  grand  and  ever  enduring  doctrmesof  our  Reformed 
system  which  are  to-day  the  strength  of  our  country  in 
all  its  parts,  learned  in  the  Scriptures,  always  teaching 
the  same  theological  system  of  which  he  is  a  master, 
through  all  his  career  teaching  in  the  same  Seminary,  and 
then  fully  trained,  as  is  most  fit  and  meet,  for  Seminary 
work,  living  to  see  gathered  around  him  nearly  three 
thousand  students  now  gone  abroad  and  preaching  every- 
where, and  having  never  heard,  (as  he  himself  told  us)  a 
word  that  wounded  him  from  any  one  of  them, — such  a 
life  is  one  which  we  may  well  contemplate  with  devout 
thankfulness  to  Him  who  is  its  giver  and  its  guide. 

Here  too  we  may  find  what  is  of  common  interest  to 
the  whole  Church,  to  other  institutions  as  well  as  this, — 
in  some  respects  to  our  whole  country.  Although,  of 
course,  the  Alumni  have  the  chief  part  to-day,  and  we 
but  come  to  ratify  what  they  decree,  yet  the  influence  of 
such  a  life  cannot  be  restricted ;  its  lines  have  gone  out 
far  and  wide ;  it  has  borne  its  fruits  abroad  as  well  as  at 
home ;  it  is  of  signal  importance  to  the  social,  moral,  and 
even  pohtical  culture  and  elevation  of  our  whole  wide 
country. 

And  there  is  another  circumstance  about  this  celebra- 
tion which  we  may  well  emphasize  ;  and  that  is,  that  here 


ADDRESS    OF    PROF.  HENRY    B.  SMITH.  7 1 

we  meet,  as  we  so  seldom  can,  to  pay  due  honor  also  to  Theo- 
logy ;  to  see  what  Theology  is,  and  means,  and  how  it  is 
needed  for  the  highest  welfare  and  true  progress  of  the 
nation.  Literature  is  spoken  of  every  day,  and  appeals 
to  all ;  merely  literary  men  live  in  a  popular  atmosphere. 
But  Theology  must  be  studied  in  comparative  seclusion  ; 
its  fruits  are  fruits  of  mature  years ;  and  they  come  to  be 
known  in  their  full  value  only  after  a  long  lapse  of  time. 
And  now  a-days  when  we  have  so  much  to  oppose  it  both 
on  the  side  of  Romanism  and  on  the  side  of  Infidelity,  it 
becomes  us  to  honor  theology  all  the  more,  and  to  seek 
fitting  opportimities  for  expressing  our  sense  of  its  vital 
necessit3\  Our  theological  institutions,  too,  must  be 
built  up  firmly,  and  manned  for  their  great  work.  Their 
foundations  must  be  strengthened  ;  their  course  of  in- 
struction made  more  scientific  and  more  practical,  that 
they  may  be  well  furnished  for  raising  up  a  suitable 
ministry  for  the  coming  generation.  For  that  ministry 
has  an  arduous  and  formidable  work  to  accomplish  in  this 
land,  in  doing  battle  against  the  hosts  that  are  assailing 
hot  only  the  outposts  but  the  very  citadel  of  our  Reform- 
ed faith, — that  faith  in  which  our  land  was  planted,  by 
which  it  has  been  blessed,  and  under  which  it  is  to  grow 
until  it  may  become  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

In  behalf  of  our  Seminary,  then,  I  would  congratulate 
him  whose  name  is  on  all  our  hps  to-day,  for  the  high 
honor  to  which  he  has  been  called,  and  for  the  eminent 
success  vouchsafed  to  him.  We  offer  to  him  the  expres- 
sion of  our  deep  and  unfeigned  esteem  and  affection.  May 
he  yet  live  many  years  to  receive  the  grateful  tributes  of 
the  Church  which  he  has  always  loved,  and  which  loves 


72  ADDRESSES. 

him  so  well.  And  above  all,  may  he  now  and  evermore 
be  blessed  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord! 


Rev.  M.  W.  Jacobus,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Western 
Theological  Seminary  at  Allegheny  : 

Ten  years  ago  we  met,  and  it  was  the  Jubilee  of  our 
Alma  Mater.  To-day  it  is  the  Jubilee  of  her  birthright 
son,  born  in  the  house — priest  of  the  household — with  a 
double  portion  of  the  inheritance. 

Allegheny  will  not  be  slow  to  bear  her  congratulations 
on  this  occasion  to  the  distinguished  Professor,  who  is 
the  father  of  us  all,  for  in  the  faculty  at  Allegheny,  if  we 
except  our  venerable  Emeritus  Professor,  who  was  be- 
fore the  Seminaries,  and  our  Junior  Professor,  who  was 
reared  among  ourselves — we  are  all  from  Princeton  ;  and 
we  are  glad  to  acknowledge  our  maternity  and  our 
paternity  to-day. 

What  more  could  Dr.  Hodge  have  done  for  Princeton 
or  Allegheny  than  he  has  done  ?  He  has  set  his  living 
seal  upon  our  Chair  of  Theology  even  as  upon  his  own. 
He  has  given  us  a  body  of  Divinity  in  the  body*  (laughter). 
He  has  given  us  systematic  Theology  in  his  own  system  in 
the  flesh  (laughter).  And  to-day  we  rejoice  that  we  have 
an  outline — an  abstract  shall  I  say — a  second  Edition  of  Dr. 
Hodge  (laughter).  But  it  is  the  only  copy  extant,  and 
we  here  advertise  that  we  do  not  loan  it  to  our  best 
friends  (laughter).  And  I  protest  that  it  is  not  to  be 
removed  from  our  premises  on  any  pretext  whatever 
(great  laughter). 

*  Dr.  A.  A,  Hodge. 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.  DR.  M.  W.  JACOBUS.  73 

Andover  !  Princeton!  Allegheny!  Andover,  1808  • 
Princeton,  1812  ;  Allegheny,  1825.  Andover  Seminary 
errew  out  of  an  awakened  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen — when  those  young  men  in  Williams  College 
were  praying  and  purposing  for  the  evangehzation  of  the 
pagan  world.  Princeton  grew  out  of  a  quickened  interest 
in  Home  Missions — when,  as  the  Pastoral  Letter  of  the 
Assembly  states,  there  were  four  hundred  vacant  churches 
crying  for  ministers — and  they  could  not  be  supplied — 
besides  the  whole  Western  Reserve  of  that  day,  destitute 
of  a  gospel  ministry  that  must  needs  be  raised  up.  And 
Allegheny  grew  out  of  the  clamoring  wants  of  the  great 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  loud  in  its  outcry  for  men,  and 
opening  before  the  Church  the  immense  field  for  mission- 
ary operations. 

So  that  we  stand  to-day — Princeton  and  Allegheny — 
shaking  hands  across  the  mountains,  intent  upon  the  great 
object  of  evangelizing  our  beloved  country,  and  of  send- 
ing missionaries  also  to  the  pagan  world. 

It  was  only  on  Thursday  of  the  last  week  that  we  had 
a  Reunion  of  the  Allegheny  Alumni,  on  the  occasion  of 
laying  the  corner  stone  of  a  Fire-proof  Library  Building. 
Between  two  and  three  hundred  of  our  graduates  came 
up  to  our  Jerusalem — some  from  China  and  from  Japan, 
and  from  Puget  Sound  and  from  Colorado,  and  Nebraska 
and  Kansas,  and  from  all  the  broad  West.  And  our 
Alphabetical  Roll  was  called,  and  more  than  a  thousand 
names  were  read.  These  are  the  grandchildren  to  be 
added  to  the  twenty-seven  hundred  children  mentioned 
here  to-day. 

The  children  and  grandchildren  bear  testimony  toge- 
ther, to  the  distinguished  services  of  him  whose  name 


u^ 


74  ADDRESSES. 

has  so  often  been  spoken  with  high  honor  amongst  us. 
When  I  was  at  the  Seminary  Drs.  Alexander  and  Miller 
were  in  their  prime.  And  as  to  Dr.  Hodge,  we  literally 
sat  at  his  feet  (laughter),  as  he  was  stretched  out  upon  his 
lounge  in  his  temporary  infirmity.  And  his  own  study 
was  the  class-room  for  a  season.  That  study  that  we  had 
regarded  with  a  salutary  awe,  until  we  became  familiar 
wnth  it  in  our  recitations.  And  there  the  department  of 
Biblical  criticism,  manuscripts,  versions,  editions,  citations 
— not  commonly  attractive — was  spread  out  before  us 
with  a  novelty  and  a  freshness  which  made  it  interesting 
to  us  all. 

And  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Dr.  Hodge  passed 
to  the  Chair  of  Theology  by  way  of  the  Exegetical  Chair, 
as  first  the  expounder  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
having  laid  the  foundations  of  his  theology  in  this 
accurate  and  thorough  exposition  of  the  Word  of  God. 
It  is  by  this  means  that  his  theology  is  so  eminently 
Bibhcal,  and  is  fortified  so  fully  by  passages  of  God's 
word.  We  note  the  fact  as  interesting  and  suggestive — 
that  is  the  true  theology  which  is  the  Biblical  theology. 
As  Luther  has  said — "  What  is  theology  but  the  grammar 
and  dictionary  applied  to  the  very  words  of  Scripture  ?" 
This  is  the  theology  which  we  have  learned,  and  in  which 
we  rejoice  to-day. 

And  then,  when  we  think  of  a  half  century's  work  in 
this  high  department,  dealing  with  the  loftiest  theories 
and  solving  the  profoundest  problems  of  truth,  who  can 
estimate  the  power  that  has  gone  forth  from  the  lips  and 
pen  of  this  distinguished  Professor. 

I  think  of  the  beginning — Dr.  Alexander,  in  1812, 
sitting  solus,  with  three  students— when  Dr.  Ashbel  Green 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    M.   W.   JACOBUS.  75 

was  President  of  the  College,  and  when  the  troops  were 
marching  through  the  town  for  the  war,  Dr.  Miller  join- 
ing him  the  year  after,  and  then  Alexander  and  Miller, 
like  Paul  and  Silas,  finding  a  Timothy  in  Dr.  Hodge. 
And  so  it  was  "  Paul  and  Silvanus  and  Timotheus,"  of 
whom  they  could  say,  "  Timothy  our  brother,"  and 
"  Timothy  my  own  son  in  the  faith."  And  such  a  ^?-io,  as 
we  remember  it,  was  the  highest  type  of  a  most  beautiful 
and  blessed  brotherhood  of  faith  and  faithfulness. 

I  think  of  the  volumes  of  the  Princeton  Review,  as  they 
were  thrown  out  year  by  year,  to  tell  now  by  the  very 
count  of  them,  almost  exactly  his  continuance  at  this  post, 
like  the  rings  of  some  great  California  tree,  deposited 
year  by  year,  and  marking  thus  the  age.  So  you  can 
count  his  professional  life  by  these  volumes,  that  have 
so  rich  a  deposit  of  his  busy  industry  and  successful  toil, 
and  which  mark  his  years  by  the  leading  articles  on  great 
themes  of  controversy  and  of  research  from  his  fertile 
pen. 

Who  can  estimate  what  the  fifty  years  have  aggregated 
of  patient  teaching  and  publishing  from  this  living  and 
affluent  source?  What  wonder  that  such  a  throng  of 
living  witnesses  comes  up  hither  to-day  to  bear  their 
impressive  testimony  and  to  convey  their  earnest  con- 
gratulations from  every  quarter. 

Last  week  we  remembered,  at  our  Allegheny  Reunion, 
that  our  first  Professor,  who  entered  in  1829  upon  his 
charge  of  a  class  of  fifteen  students,  came  from  the  faculty 
of  Princeton  College,  the  venerable  Luther  Halsey,  who 
now  returns  again  to  us  to  be  Lecturer  Extraordinary  in 
the  Institution,  which  he  was  sent  forth  from  this  place  to 
found,   under  the   direction   of  the   General   Assembly, 


76  ADDRESSES. 

And  so  we  are  bound  together — Princeton  to  Allegheny, 
and  Allegheny  to  Princeton.  We  belong  to  you,  and 
you  belong  to  us.     I  have  done. 

Turning  to  Dr.  Hodge :  "  The  righteous  shall  flourish 
like  the  palm-tree.  He  shall  grow  like  a  cedar  in  Leba- 
non. Those  that  be  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord 
shall  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God.  They  shall  still 
bring  forth  fruit  in  old  age.  They  shall  be  fat  and 
flourishing.  To  show  that  the  Lord  is  upright :  He  is 
my  Rock,  and  there  is  no  unrighteousness  in  Him ! " 

The  President  announced  and  introduced  Rev. 
Egbert  C.  Smyth,  D.D.,  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Andover,  Mass.,  who  in  response  said: 

We  had  a  very  courteous  invitation  from  the  Faculty 
of  this  Seminary  to  be  with  you  to-day.  The  letter  in- 
viting our  Seminary  to  be  represented  on  this  occasion 
came  to  the  first  meeting  of  our  Faculty  which  I  was  able 
to  attend  after  a  long  and  somewhat  serious  illness.  My 
colleagues  appointed  me  their  representative,  T  suppose, 
evidently  for  the  reason  that  the  best  way  to  tone  up  an 
Andover  Professor  was  to  send  him  to  Princeton  [laugh- 
ter]. I  am  here,  therefore,  to  unite  with  you  in  most 
sincere,  courteous,  and  friendly  salutations.  We  rejoice 
with  this  Seminary,  with  its  Alumni  and  friends,  in  the 
great  work  which  has  been  doing  here  for  half  a  century. 
Just  as  I  left  home  I  took  from  the  office  a  rehgious  paper, 
printed  in  Berlin,  and  the  first  article  to  which  my  atten- 
tion was  called  was  a  notice  of  that  great  work  in  The- 
ology, the  first  volume  of  which  had  reached  the  editors 
of  that  journal.     That  paper  had  been  given  to  the  idea 


ADDRESS    OF    DR.  EGBERT    C.    SMYTH.  "J^ 

that  all  scientific  theology  arose  in  Germany  [laughter]. 
And  yet,  after  going  on  a  little  way,  it  evidently  came  to 
the  conclusion,  which  they  frankly  confessed,  that  Theo- 
logy in  America  is  building  in  a  truly  scientific  spirit,  on 
its  own  foundations,  and  the  work  there  is  received  as  an 
honor  not  onh'  to  Princeton,  but  to  our  country.  When 
passing  through  Boston,  I  fell  in  with  a  Pastor,  a  man 
whom  I  have  known  for  a  number  of  years  as  a  man  of 
great  usefulness,  and  until  then  had  thought  him  wholly 
a  product  of  our  New  England  Institutions.  I  remarked 
that  I  was  on  my  way  to  Princeton.  "  Give  my  love  to 
Dr.  Hodge,"  said  he,  "and  tell  him  that  I  carry  to-day 
his  lectures  on  my  heart."  And  how  many  there  are 
within  the  bounds  of  Presbyterian  circles  and  influence, 
in  our  own  land  and  in  other  lands,  who  carry  his  lectures 
not  only  in  their  heads,  but  also  in  their  hearts. 

The  old  artists  loved  to  represent  the  Evangelists,  each 
standing  by  his  golden  urn,  pouring  forth  a  stream  of 
living  water,  which  thence  flowed  out  to  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  globe. 

I  think  I  may  to-day  appropriate  that  symbol ;  there 
has  been  a  man  of  faith,  of  prayer,  and  of  God,  here 
standing  by  his  urn ;  and  that  urn  to-da)^  is  a  fountain, 
and  its  waters  are  flowing  over  our  land  and  the 
world. 

I  came  under  a  two-fold  commission.  One  was  to 
present  most  cordially  these  congratulations  from  my 
colleagues ;  the  other  was  from  my  physician,  that  on  no 
account  whatever  should  I  be  betrayed  into  a  speech 
[great  laughter]. 


78  ADDRESSES. 

Rev.  Theodore  D.  Woolsey,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  late 
President  of  Yale  College,  was  next  introduced,  and 
received  a  most  hearty  welcome.  His  address  was  as 
follows : 

I  came  not  in  a  representative  character,  Mr.  President, 
when  I  came  on  here,  but  as  a  personal  matter ;  that  is,  I 
certainly  should  not  have  been  here  if  I  had  not  felt  a 
deep  regard  for  my  old  instructor.  For,  little  as  I  have 
had  to  do  with  theology,  I  must  say  what  is  not  general- 
ly known,  that  I  was  in  Princeton  "  a  year  and  the 
long  term,"  as  it  used  to  be  called ;  that  I  came  as  a 
student  in  1821,  soon  after  Dr.  Hodge  came  as  an  in- 
structor, he  receiving  the  appointment  of  Professor  the 
next  year.  With  Dr.  Miller,  who  was  an  old  friend  of 
my  family,  I  had  httle  to  do  in  the  way  of  teaching,  be- 
cause after  the  "  year  and  ^he  long  term"  I  was  called  to  an 
academic  situation.  But  I  began  with  my  venerated  and 
beloved  friend.  Dr.  Hodge,  the  study  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  it  was  under  him  that  I  imbibed  that  love  particularly 
for  the  Greek  Scriptures,  which  has  been  so  great  that  I 
have  sometimes  wished  that  I  might  take  my  Greek 
Testament  with  me  into  heaven. 

For  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  I  have  the  most  profound 
reverence  and  respect,  and  particularly  for  this  thing 
which  impressed  me  more  than  anything  else,  his  won- 
derful knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  and  of  the  Christian 
heart,  in  all  its  morbid  and  its  healthful  exercises,  so  that 
you  may  call  him  the  Shakspeare  of  the  Christian  heart. 
I  have  never  seen  a  man,  nor  do  I  expect  ever  to  see  the 
man,  who  has  impressed  me  more  in  this  particular. 

And  now,  as  my  coming  was  a  personal  thing,  I  must 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.  R.  G.  VERMILYE.  79 

say  that  I  feel  not  only  great  respect,  but  love  towards 
that  great  and  excellent  man,  honored  by  all  the  public 
in  this  land  and  throughout  Europe ;  that  I  feel  a  most 
sincere  affection  for  him.  Perhaps  he  may  not  remember 
a  little  incident  that  I  may  recall.  Some  years  afterward 
I  was  in  Bonn,  and  he  was  coming  into  Germany,  I  think 
in  1828,  and  stopped  at  Bonn.  I  saw  him,  and  went  up 
the  river  with  him  to  enjoy  his  society.  Then  he  spoke 
to  me — (I  may  say,  if  permitted  to  speak  of  myself,  that 
I  was  in  darkness) — he  spoke  to  me  words  of  cheer,  of 
comfort,  and  of  strength.  I  do  not  remember  the  words, 
but  I  remember  the  impression,  and  that  impression  will 
go  with  me  through  life. 

And  so  it  is,  Mr.  President ;  the  impression  we  make 
by  the  kindness  and  tenderness  and  gentle  feeling  with 
which  we  deal  with  those  somewhat  younger  than  our- 
selves,— this  is  a  power  that  goes  from  the  living  man  to 
the  living  man,  and  will  be  remembered,  I  could  almost 
say,  through  eternity.  There  is  nothing  in  my  experience 
so  vivid  as  these  impressions  that  have  been  made  by  the 
kindness  and  love  of  those  who  have  sought  to  do  me 
good. 

I  hope  that  my  dear  friend  and  instructor  may  have  a 
sweet  old  age  amid  the  joys  of  the  family,  and  the  respect 
of  the  public  and  of  his  old  pupils,  as  great  as  he  de- 
serves. 


Rev.  Dr.  R.  G.  Vermilye,  of  Hartford,  Professor  in 
the  Theological  Institute  of  Connecticut,  answered  to 
the  next  call,  and  said  : 

I  was  directed  to  present  the  congratulations  of  our 


8o  ADDRESSES. 

Faculty  to  Dr.  Hodge  and  Princeton  Seminary  ;  and  if  I 
could  find  any  words  to  express  the  love  and  esteem  that 
have  been  uttered  by  my  colleagues,  I  would  use  them 
for  this  occasion.  We  are  all,  sir,  as  a  faculty,  very  great 
admirers  of  Dr.  Hodge.  We  have  for  him  a  sincere  and 
profound  esteem  and  respect  personally,  and  we  have  also 
for  his  work,  I  may  say,  a  like  respect  and  esteem. 

I  recollect  a  remark  which  was  made  by  a  distinguished 
man  in  regard  to  another  who  reached  the  age  of  eighty, 
I  think  somewhat  like  this:  that  it  was  a  great  thing  to 
go  through  a  long  life,  to  that  period,  honored  and  re- 
spected of  men,  without  a  word  of  reproach,  and  to  die  ■ 
in  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel.  I  believe  I  know  who 
said  that.  Now,  sir,  I  would  take  up  something  like  that 
and  say  it  here  to-day.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  have  spent 
fifty  years  in  the  service  of  Christ's  Church,  in  such  a 
work  as  this ;  and  I  feel  disposed  to  lift  up  my  heart  in 
gratitude  to  God  who  has  given  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  to  our  land,  and  to  the  world  a  man  like  Dr. 
Hodge,  who  has  done  the  work  Dr.  Hodge  has  done. 

We  have  some  particular  reasons,  perhaps,  for  being  in- 
terested on  this  occasion.  We  have  the  same  faith  that 
you  have,  sir.  We  have  the  same  Lord,  the  same  Master. 
If  you  have  here  Jehovah-Jesus,  why  that  is  our  God,  that 
is  our  Saviour.  We  have  no  other  trust  than  this  same 
Jesus,  and  it  is  the  honor  and  glory  of  this  Christ,  of  this 
Master  of  ours,  that  we  desire  to  see  advanced  by  what- 
ever instrumentality,  and  wherever  it  may  be.  We  can 
give  you  most  heartily,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship  there.  We  believe  in  the  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  and  we  love  to  speak  and  to  think  of  the 
Lord,  our  righteousness  and  our  strength.    Then  we  have 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.  DR.  R.  G.  VERMILYE.  8 1 

some  alliances  with  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  I  believe  I 
was  brought  up  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  We  have  a 
professor  who  is  also  an  alumnus  of  this  institution ;  we 
have  a  Dutchman  in  our  Faculty,  and  we  have  in  the 
other  professors  gentlemen  who  have  learned  a  great  deal 
from  Dr.  Hodge,  though  not  from  his  lips  here.  We  all 
unite  in  fervent,  earnest  congratulations  and  wishes  for 
his  continued  life  and  usefulness. 

May  I  say  a  single  word  in  regard  to  the  theology  ? 
You  talk  about  Princeton  Theology.  Well,  sir,  Dr.  Hodge 
was  right  to-day,  when  he  witnessed  a  good  confession, 
in  saying  you  never  originated  a  new  idea  here.  We 
have  all  the  theology,  and  had  I  suppose  before  Princeton 
was  founded,  in  the  archives  of  New  England, — all  the 
theology  that  you  teach  here.  I  have  studied  his  books, 
and  I  find  that  of  which  we  have  been  sure  among  our- 
selves. We  accept  it,  sir,  most  cordially  as  our  theology, 
and  I  doubt  whether  you  have  the  right  to  put  your  im- 
primatur especially  on  it,  as  the  "  Princeton  Theology." 
[Laughter.]  It  is  the  theology  of  the  Reformation. 
It  is  the  theology  which  the  fathers  of  New  England, — 
if  I  cannot  say  our  fathers  by  nature,  I  will  say  out 
fathers  by  adoption,  —  it  is  the  theology  which  they 
had,  and  which  they  taught,  and  which  we  can  teach  on 
the  basis  of  their  teaching  also.  And  I  rejoice  to  think  of 
the  great  work, — it  is  a  great  work — some  pages  of  that 
theology  I  have  read  with  almost  the  same  interest  with 
which  I  should  read  a  novel ;  well,  I  will  say  with  more 
than  the  interest  that  I  should  read  a  novel  [laughter]  ; 
with  more  interest  even  than  a  novel  is  read  by  persons 
who  are  novel-readers.  I  was  fascinated  and  carried  on, 
page  by  page,  by  the  logic,  the  learning,  the  simpHcity, 

6 


82  ADDRESSES. 

the  power,  the  spirituality.  It  is  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus, 
made  alive  for  the  edification  of  God's  people. 

Let  me  repeat  our  congratulations  to  Princeton  Semi- 
nary as  well  as  to  Dr.  Hodge  personally  on  this  occa- 
sion. 


Rev.  Joseph  T.  Cooper,  D.D.,  was  introduced  as  the 
representative  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Seminary 
at  Allegheny,  and  responded  : 

I  am  sure  you  do  not  need  any  words  from  me  as  an  en- 
dorsement of  the  theology.  All  that  my  brother  has  said 
meets  my  most  hearty  concurrence,  and  hence  it  is  un- 
necessary for  me  to  occupy  your  time  with  any  remarks 
in  relation  to  the  sentiments  that  are  set  forth  in  that 
most  remarkable  and  valuable  work  of  which  our  vener- 
able father  is  the  author. 

About  six  weeks  have  passed,  Mr.  Chairman,  since  my 
wife  read  to  me  in  the  papers  the  notice  of  this  meeting, 
and  I  distinctly  remember  saying:  "God  willing,  there  I 
mean  to  be,  if  it  is  within  the  reach  of  possibility ;"  and 
here  I  am  to-day ;  and  I  would  just  take  occasion  to  say 
that  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  heart  in  this  assembly 
that  is  more  in  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  this  meeting 
than  is  my  own  heart. 

I  have  the  Princeton  Review  from  the  beginning ; — the 
very  first  volume  bears  that  venerated  name  as  its  editor, 
Charles  Hodge.  And  if  there  be  any  man  in  this  country 
to  whom  I  feel  more  indebted  than  to  any  other  person 
for  light  on  the  great  questions  that  have  agitated 
theologians,  —  any  man  to  whom  I  feel  more  indebted 
for  bringing  comfort  to  my  heart  in  seasons  of  spiritual 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.   C.    P.    KRAUTH.  83 

darkness, — that  man,  let  me  say,  is  my  venerable  brother, 
Dr.  Charles  Hodge.  It  is,  therefore,  Mr.  Chairman,  a 
source  of  great  gratification  to  me  to  be  present  on  this 
occasion ;  and  my  earnest  prayer  to  God  is,  that  the  last 
days  of  our  venerable  father  may  be  his  best  days  ;  that 
when  his  sun — the  star  of  his  life — sets,  it  may  set  as  the 
morning-star  that  goes  not  down  behind  the  darkened 
West  and  hides  obscured  among  the  tempests  of  the  sky, 
but  melts  away  into  the  light  of  heaven.  God  grant  that 
it  may  be  thus  with  him  ! 

The  President  then  called  upon  Rev.  Dr.  Hovey, 
President  of  the  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  at 
Newton,  Mass.,  who  had  been  in  attendance  through 
the  day,  but  was  temporarily  absent  from  the  church. 

/ 

Rev.  C.  P.  Krauth,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  was  next 
introduced  as  a  member  of  the  Faculty  of  the  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church, 
and  said  in  response  : 

Mr.  Chairman, — I  may  say  with  the  venerable  Dr. 
Woolsey,  that  my  mission  to-day  is  one  of  personal  love 
as  well  as  an  official  one ;  that  I  feel  a  happiness  to  which 
I  can  give  no  adequate  expression,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
I  represent  in  part  a  great  church  in  that  homage  which 
I  feel  that  all  that  church  would  be  inclined  to  bring  to 
the  feet  of  our  distinguished  father  and  brother.  We,  too, 
are  not  wilhng  that  you  should  in  any  exclusive  sense 
speak  of  "  Princeton  Theology,"  or  that  you  should  have 
Dr.  Hodge  all  to  yourselves.     We  think  him  too  great  a 


84  ADDRESSES. 

man  to  be  the  heritage  even  of  so  great  a  church  as  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  name  of  Dr.  Hodge  is  precious 
in  the  Lutheran  Church  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  a 
name  precious  to  all  our  scholars ;  precious  first,  in  its 
associations  with  those  doctrines  which  the  Presbyterian 
and  Lutheran  Churches  hold  in  common,  those  great 
doctrines  in  maintaining  which  Lutherans  and  Calvinists 
stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  the  great  warfare  of  the 
Reformation.  To  Dr.  Hodge  we,  as  Lutherans,  have 
looked  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  ex- 
pounders of  the  truths  which  we  hold  in  common,  those 
great  truths  which  gave  to  us  the  Reformation ;  and  his 
name  is  as  dear  to  us  in  those  relations  as  it  is  to  your- 
selves. The  name  of  Dr.  Hodge  is  very  precious  in  other 
relations.  The  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  Churches  have 
divided  on  certain  points.  The  future  union,  I  believe, 
turns  upon  our  ability  to  harmonize  on  these  points. 
That  union  for  which  the  Church  is  sighing  is  not  to 
be  a  union  of  vague  sentimentality — not  a  union  to  be 
purchased  at  the  sacrifice  of  truth,  but  a  union  to  be 
brought  about  by,  clearer  apprehensions  of  the  truth,  by 
the  ability  of  the  divided  churches  to  see  eye  to  eye  in 
regard  to  those  very  things  on  which  we  have  had  the 
great  division  within  our  Protestantism. 

When  we  see  two  great  streams  that  roll  widely  apart 
into  the  ocean,  and  are  told  that  the  point  of  division  was 
the  water-shed  from  which  they  started,  we  feel  that  if 
ever  they  are  to  run  in  the  same  channel,  that  it  must  be 
not  by  widening  the  points  at  which  they  parted,  not  by 
attempting  to  ignore  the  fact  of  their  division,  but  by 
going  back  to  the  point  of  sundering.  When  a  great 
divine  like  Dr.  Hodge  in  taking  up  the  doctrines  of  a 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    C.    P.    KRAUTH.  85 

church  differing  from  his  own  church,  treats  them  with 
candor,  love  of  truth,  and  the  perfect  fairness,  which 
characterizes  all  his  dealings  with  that  which  he  is  not 
able  to  maintain,  we  believe  there  is  in  this  a  bright 
presage  for  the  future.  And  if  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  ever  to  be  brought  together  in  a  consolidated  form,  it 
will  be  by  the  work  of  such  masterly  hands,  moved  by 
such  a  saintly  spirit.  Therefore  it  is  that  we  recognize  in 
Dr.  Hodge  at  once  the  exponent  of  a  distinctive  con- 
fessional theology,  pure  and  uncompromising  ;  and  at  the 
same  time  the  banner-bearer  of  the  great  hopes  of  the 
Church  in  the  future,  of  the  union  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

1  have  remarked  to  my  own  classes  that  it  is  sometimes 
said  that  there  are  no  Calvinists  now,  no  thorough-going 
Calvinists,  of  the  old  type,  but  for  my  own  part  I  think  I 
know  two ;  one  is,  old  Dr.  Hodge  of  Princeton,  and  the 
other  is,  young  Dr.  Hodge  of  Allegheny.  It  is  first  be- 
cause of  the  eminent  consistency  with  his  own  position, 
and  secondly  because  of  the  eminent  fairness  to  others  of 
our  venerable  friend,  that  while  I  regard  him  on  the  one 
hand  as  the  ablest  and  most  eminent  living  representative 
of  dogmatic  theology  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  I  regard 
him  on  the  other  as  a  man  working  for  that  greater  future 
for  which  we  all  long,  when  the  divided  flock  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  will  be  one,  when  all  the  names  of  our 
divisions  shall  be  things  of  the  past,  and  we  shall  be  knit 
together  not  in  a  confusing  love  that  sacrifices  faith,  but 
when,  recognizing  what  Luther  said,  that  "  love  endureth 
all  things  but  faith  endureth  nothing,"  we  shall  stand  once 
again  in  the  love  which  is  brought  forth  in  the  Christian 
Church   by  fidelity  to  the  one  truth,  pure  as   it   came 


86  '  ADDRESSES. 

from  its  living  source.  And  in  the  great  man  for 
whom  this  day  is  hallowed  we  recognize  one  of  the 
master  spirits  of  the  time,  laboring  for  this  gloiious 
consummation.  Therefore  it  is  that  we  feel  happy  in 
mingling  our  tributes  with  yours,  and  in  attesting  the 
convictions  wrought  in  our  hearts  of  the  eminent  services 
not  only  to  the  Christian  Church,  but  to  the  Christian 
world,  rendered  by  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  of  Princeton. 


The  President  next  called  upon  and  introduced, 
Rev.  Francis  L.  Patton,  Professor-elect  in  the  Semi- 
nary of  the  Northwest,  at  Chicago,  who  said, 

I  came  here  to-day  to  form  a  single  syllable  in  what  Dr. 
Smith  has  characterized  as  the  great  speech  of  the  occa- 
sion, and  it  is  to  me,  a  matter  of  great  surprise,  that  I  am 
called  upon  to  speak.  Indeed  I  feel  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
singular  incongruity  that  I  should  stand  here  in  the  pres- 
ence of  learned  men  to  address  this  audience ;  and  per- 
haps, if  we  were  technical,  an  impropriety,  inasmuch  as 
the  General  Assembly  may  yet  veto  the  action  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  whereby  I  am  entrusted  with  the 
Chair  of  Theology  at  Chicago,  and  it  would  be  very  em- 
barrassing to  me  to  carry  through  life  the  remembrance 
of  having  occupied  this  position,  if  such  an  event  should 
occur.  At  the  same  time  we  would  not  be  behind  the 
Seminary  at  Allegheny,  in  expressing  our  affection  for 
Dr.  Hodge,  and  in  making  a  statement  which  I  think  I 
am  correct  in  making,  that  all  the  Professors  of  that  Insti- 
tution are  graduates  of  Princeton  Seminary  and  children 
of  Dr.  Hodge.     I  do  not  know  that  any  one  can  be  in  a 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.  DR.  JOSEPH    PACKARD.  8/ 

position  to  appreciate  more  fully  the  value  of  those 
volumes  of  Systematic  Theology  which  are   now  being 

given  to  the  world  than  one  who,  so  imperfectly  prepared 
is  called  upon  to  give  instruction  in  that  department.  It 
will  be  so  convenient.  Perhaps  I  may  say  again  as 
among  the  youngest  graduates  of  this  institution,  that 
there  is  no  man  living  to  whom  I  owe  so  much  as  I  do  to 
Dr.  Hodge ;  and  that  therefore  to  have  been  with  you  to- 
day, to  have  heard  once  more  his  words,  to  have  re- 
joiced with  you,  and  to  have  wept  with  you,  and  with 
you  to  have  shared  his  benediction,  will  be  one  of  the 
most  delightful  memories  of  my  life ;  and  in  thus  coming 
to  celebrate  the  golden  anniversary  of  our  father's  mar- 
riage with  our  Alma  Mater,  perhaps  even  the  youngest 
of  his  dutiful  children  may  be  welcome.  This,  fathers,  is 
my  apology  for  standing  in  your  presence  to-day. 

Rev.  Joseph  Packard,  D.D.,was  called  out  as  a  Pro- 
fessor representing  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  of  Virginia,  and  made  the  following 
response : 

Called  upon  so  unexpectedly,  I  will  not  decline  to  say 
a  few  words  on  this  occasion,  lest  I  should  be  supposed 
not  to  appreciate  the  merits  and  value  of  Dr.  Hodge  as  a 
commentator  on  the  Scriptures  and  as  a  theologian. 

The  institution  with  which  I  am  connected  has  for  one 
of  its  professors  the  class-mate,  and  room-mate  for  seven 
years,  of  Dr.  Hodge,  and  I  suppose  he  has  not  forgotten 
the  name  of  John  Johns.  At  least  the  Bishop  said  to  me  at 
parting  from  him  that  I  must  give  his  love  to  "  Charlie  " 
as  he  familiarly  called  him.     There  are  not  a  few  in  the 


88  ADDRESSES. 

church  with  which  I  am  connected,  who  value  most 
highly  the  merits  of  Dr.  Hodge  as  an  interpreter  of  the 
Scriptures.  We  think  that  there  may  be  applied  to  him 
that  line  of  the  poet  Cowper,  that 

"  There  is  sound  judgment  laboring  in  the  Scripture  mine." 

We  regard  him,  too,  as  a  defender  of  the  faith  in  his  work 
which  he  has  recently  published  on  Systematic  Theology. 
He  has  gone  forth  in  his  old  age  clad  in  the  panoply  of 
God,  with  the  sharp  two-edged  sword  of  the  Spirit  in  his 
right  hand,  and  the  shield  of  faith  in  his  left,  and  his 
thrusts  at  Materialism,  and  Darwinism  and  Huxleyism 
show  that  his  natural  strength  is  not  abated,  that  his  arm 
is  not  nerveless.  We  need  not  ask  on  this  occasion,  what 
shall  be  done  to  the  man  whom  the  church  delights  to 
honor.  We  see  it  before  us  in  this  testimonial,  so  striking, 
so  appropriate,  and  so  perennial,  in  the  foundation  and 
the  endowment  of  a  new  professorship  ;  and  I  doubt  not 
that  when  the  history  of  Theology  in  America  for  the  last 
fifty  years  shall  be  impartially  written,  the  foremost  name 
on  the  list  of  those  who  have  deserved  well  of  the  church, 
— that  name  which  will  shine  in  letters  of  light  as  the  first 
and  foremost  name  on  the  list, — will,  by  the  almost  uni- 
versal consent  of  all  the  churches,  be  the  name  of  Charles 
Hodge. 

Rev.  Dr.  Smith  of  Baltimore,  read  at  this  point  let- 
ters from  Bishops  Johns  and  Mcllvaine,  expressing 
their  deepest  sympathy  with  the  occasion,  and  their 
regret  at  their  compulsory  absence.  (See  Part  III.) 

The  Professors  of  the  Reformed  Theoloo-ical  Semi- 
nary  at  New  Brunswick,  having  been  obliged  to  leave 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    E.    P.    ROGERSi^  8q 

/ 

the  church  at  an  earlier  hour,  Rev.  E.  P.  Rogers,  D.D., 
of  New  York,  was  called  upon  to  represent  that  insti- 
tution and  denomination.     His  response  was: 

Brethren: — I  can  hardly  believe  that  some  one  of  the 
Professors  of  our  Seminary  is  not  here  ;  I  saw  three  of 
them  this  morning,  and  I  am  surprised  that  no  one  is  here 
to  answer  to  this  call ;  the  call  upon  me  is  entirely  unex- 
pected and  undeserved. 

As  I  sat  here  to-day  surrounded  by  familiar  faces,  I 
quite  forgot  that  I  was  a  Dutchman,  and  really  thought  I 
was  a  Presbyterian,  and  this  idea  was  certainly  Qherished 
by  the  fact  that  there  are  upon  this  platform  two  men  to 
whom  I  owe  all  the  theology  I  ever  had — two  men  to 
whom  I  am  greatly  indebted  ;  one  is  my  former  Pastor, 
Dr.  Atwater,  under  whose  ministry  I  sat  for  years,  and 
whose  theological  opinions'  I  need  not  in  his  presence 
endorse,  and  who  did  me  a  very  great  service  in  directing 
me  to  Princeton,  and  in  giving  me  letters  of  introduction 
to  the  distinguished  professors  who  occupied  these  chairs, 
two  of  whom  are  not,  but  one  of  whom,  clarum  ct  vcner- 
abile  nomen,  remains  unto  this  day.  I  shall  never  forget 
my  arrival  in  this  town  and  my  w^elcome  by  Dr.  Miller, 
that  model  of  a  Christian  gentleman.  As  I  rang  the  bell 
at  his  house,  he  opened  the  door.  "  Dr.  Miller,"  said  I. 
"  Miller,  Sir,  is  my  name.  Please  walk  in."  And  in  half 
an  hour  in  his  study  I  was  at  home  with  him.  My  resi- 
dence in  Princeton  was  brief;  there  were  circumstances 
of  a  physical  character  which  interrupted  my  course  of 
study,  which  I  was  afterwards  permitted  to  continue 
under  my  respected  pastor.  But  I  will  not  be  behind 
any  man  here  to-day  in  giving  utterance  to  what  we  all 


90  ADDRESSES. 

feci,  and  what  has  been  so  eloquently  expressed  here,  the 
veneration,  respect  and  affection  that  I  shall  ever  cherish 
for  Dr.  Hodge. 

And  I  will  only  add.  Sir,  that  I  have  been  reminded,  as 
I  thought  of  him,  of  the  sentence  in  Mr.  Everett's  remark- 
able eulogy  on  the  "  Father  of  his  Country,"  which  I 
think  will  well  apply  to  him,  "  When  you  look  upon  him," 
said  he,  '^3'^ou  look  upon  a  man  in  whom  love  would  soar 
up  into  reverence  and  reverence  would  melt  back  into 
love."  / 

Rev.  S.  H.  Kellogg  was  next  introduced  as  a  Mis- 
sionary of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  a  Teacher  in 
a  Theological  Training  School  in  India.     He  said  : 

Mr.  President: — I  suppose  it  will  not  be  necessary 
for  me  to  descend  to  that  platform,  as  I  occupy  a  lofty 
position  here.     (Among  the  ladies  in  the  gallery.) 

I  can  only  in  a  very  few  words  express  my  sincere  joy 
that  I  am  permitted  in  God's  Providence  to  be  present 
to-day.  I  think  that  as  long  as  I  live  I  shall  thank  God 
that  I  was  allowed  to- join  in  these  congratulations  to  our 
•  honored  and  revered  instructor.  I  take  pleasure  in  say- 
ing, it  is  these  truths  which  he  here  expounds  and  de- 
fends, that  the  brethren  in  India  are  endeavoring  to 
deliver  to  th-e  native  teachers  we  are  training  up  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  rnasses  in  that  country  ;  and  I  am 
very  happy  to  be  able  not  only  for  myself,  but  for  the 
body  of  missionary  brethren  whom  our  father  has  sent 
forth,  to  give  him  here  our  hearty  congratulations  and 
our  heartfelt  wishes  for  his  prolonged  life,  that  he  may  be 
a  continued  blessing  to  the  Church  of  God  in  this 
country.     I  wish  to  refer  to  one  single  personal  incident : 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.  DR.  R.  K.  RODGERS.  Ql 

when  I  went  to  India  there  was  one  dear  brother  whom 
some  of  us  have  learned  to  love  most  tenderly,  now  with 
the  Church  glorified  on  high;  that  dear  brother  (the  Rev. 
J,  H.  Myers)  came  to  me  in  the  Seminary  and  said  to 
me,  "  I  have  been  to  talk  with  Dr.  Hodge  about  going  as 
a  Missionary  to  India."  ''  What  did  he  say?"  "  He  told 
me  to  go  and  *  the  greatest  blessing  and  honor  that  I 
could  ask  for  one  of  my  own  sons  is  that  he  should  go  far 
hence  to  the  Gentiles.'  "  We  have  taken  those  words  as 
Dr.  Hodge's  benediction  upon  our  mission.  God  bless 
him! 


Turnina:  to  the  Alumni,  the  President  called  out 
Rev.  Ravaud  K.  Rodgers,  D.D.,  of  the  Class  of  1818, 
''  one  of  the  eldest  of  the  Alumni  present,  and  nearest 
in  sight ;"  who  responded  thus  : 

I  wish  to  say,  Sir,  with  reference  to  this  matter,  that  if 
all  here  had  known  Dr.  Hodge  as  long  as  I  have,  they 
would  all  say  with  me,  each  man  for  himself,  /  love  Dr. 
"  Hodge.  If  there  are  any  here  present  who  have  any  reason 
for  preventing  that  declaration  from  going  forth  in  all 
its  strength  and  power,  let  them  rise  and  say  so. 

I  could  not  help  thinking.  Sir,  when  the  brother  from 
Virginia  was  speaking  of  John  Johns  (as  I  call  him),  that 
he  and  Dr.  Hodge  (we  used  to  call  him  "  Charhe"  then) 
and  myself,  were  class-mates  in  college  ;  we  were  boys 
together,  and  God  has  permitted  us  to  grow  up  together. 
And  though  it  was  not  my  privilege  to  sit  at  my  brother's 
feet  and  to  have  been  taught  by  him,  for  the  Master  call- 
ed me  to  the  work  before  he  was  called  to  this  solemn 
undertaking,  I  have  rejoiced  in  the  success  with  which 


92  ADDRESSES. 

God  has  crowned  his  labors  in  this  institution.  Since  I 
went  out,  as  long-  ago  as  1818, 1  have  regarded  it  my  high 
privilege  to  do  all  in  my  power  for  the  Princeton  Semi- 
nary ;  I  love  it  and  I  owe  a  great  deal  to  it ;  and  there 
are  very  few  who  can  say  with  stronger  language  and 
feehng  than  I  can,  "  I  love  this  institution."  I  love  to 
come  back  to  Princeton  ;  I  love  the  College  and  the 
Seminary,  I  was  two  years  at  the  former  and  three  at  the 
latter, — in  all  five  years  instruction  in  this  place ;  and  I 
say  "  Princeton,  with  all  thy  faults  I  love  thee  still."  The 
older  I  grow.  Sir,  the  more  I  love  these  institutions,  and 
love  to  come  back  here  to  the  home  of  my  two  Alma 
Maters.  It  is  not  everybody  who  has  two  Alma  Maters  ; 
I  am  one  of  the  notable  few  ;  I  can  boast  of  two,  that  dear 
old  College  over  there  where  God  pleased  to  meet  me, 
and  where  I  trust  I  gave  myself  to  Him,  and  that  old 
Seminary  where  I  was  allowed  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Alex- 
ander and  Miller  of  blessed  memory.  God  grant  that 
the  rich  influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit  which  rested  on 
that  college  in  time  past  may  rest  there  again  ;  God  grant 
that  the  Spirit  of  the  Master  may  descend  upon  those  who 
now  have  the  charge  of  training  up  a  ministry  for  the 
the  Church  !  When  we  who  are  older  shall  be  called 
away,  we  hope  to  rejoice  in  those  on  whom  we  may  leave 
the  mantle  of  Elijah,  with  the  assurance  that  Zion  shall 
not  want  for  friends  to  carry  out  the  great  purposes  of 
God. 

Rev.  Alfred  Nevin,  D.D.,  was  announced  as  Chair- 
man of  a  Committee  appointed  at  a  recent  meeting 
of  the  Alumni  of  the  Allegheny  Seminary,  to  represent 
them  on  this  occasion  and  tendered  in  a  brief  address 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.  S.  I.  PRIME.  93 

the  salutations  and  congratulations  of  those  for  whom 
he  had  come. 

Rev.  S.  Irenseus  Prime,  D.D.,  of  the  New  York 
Observer,  being  called,  responded  substantially  as  fol- 
lows: 

My  Friends, — During  all  this  day  of  congratulation 
and  rejoicing  I  have  been  under  a  sense  of  deep  solemnity. 
I  have  been  thinking  how  many  would  have  rejoiced  to 
be  with  us  to-day,  who  yet  are  doubtless  rejoicing  in  a 
greater  assemblage,  and  in  the  midst  of  pleasures  which 
we  now  only  anticipate.  It  was  very  natural  to  go  back, 
as  some  who  have  already  spoken  have  done,  to  their  first 
entrance  into  Princeton.  I  very  well  remember  that  one 
of  the  earliest  events  of  my  sojourn  here  was  the  funeral 
of  Dr.  Miller's  son,  when  Dr.  Hodge  preached  the  sermon. 
You,  Sir,  and  Dr.  Boardman  were  present,  and  can  tell 
how  many  years  ago  it  was.  When  I  heard  that  sermon 
from  the  lips  of  one  of  the  professors  in  the  Seminary  I 
was  impressed  as  I  never  had  been  before,  and  as  I  have 
scarcely  ever  been  since,  with  the  power  of  human 
sympathy  and  love,  combined  with  great  learning  and 
strength  of  intellect ;  and  I  said  to  myself  it  is  that  com- 
bination that  gives  power  to  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  And  if  there  is  anything  in  the  Princeton 
Theology,  which  makes  the  system  here  taught  worthy 
of  the  name  (to  which  some  one  of  the  learned  professors 
told  us  we  had  no  rights,  because  it  was  the  theology  of 
the  Bible  only), — if  there  is  any  one  characteristic  that 
gives  to  Princeton  Theology  a  distinction  and  a  power,  it 
is  that,  with  these  rigid  iron  bands  of  truth,  it  is  infused 


94  ADDRESSES. 

and  energized  with  that  love  which  carries  it  home  to 
the  hearts  of  those  who  hear  it. 

As  I  heard  that  sermon  b}^  Dr.  Hodge,  I  saw  that  he  had 
those  attributes  which  are  comprehended  in  this  simple 
description,  "  that  he  has  the  heart  of  a  woman  and  the 
head  of  a  man."  I  have  thought  so  ever  since.  I  have 
not  only  revered  him  for  the  greatness  of  his  intellect  and 
the  extent  of  his  learning,  but  have  also  admired  and 
loved  him  for  those  qualities  which  bring  him  near  to  the 
hearts  of  those  who  know  him. 

During  all  the  addresses  to  which  we  have  listened  to- 
day he  has  not  been  spoken  of  in  one  of  the  great  depart- 
ments of  his  usefulness.  The  Princetojt  Review  has  been 
repeatedly  alluded  to,  but  no  specific  reference  has  been 
made  to  Dr.  Hodge's  power  as  a  reviewer.  I  think,  and 
I  have  had  connection  with  the  press  now  for  thirty  years, 
— I  think  Dr.  Hodge  the  ablest  reviewer  in  the  world. 
Any  one  who  has  carefully  studied  that  Princeton  Review 
for  the  last  thirty  years  will  bear  me  witness  when  I 
testify  to  the  trenchant  power  with  which  he  has  defended 
the  truth,  and  put  forth  the  peculiar  views  which  have 
made  that  review  a  power  in  the  Church  and  in  the 
world. 

How  great  then  has  been  the  usefulness  of  a  man  who 
has  trained  so  many  men  to  preach  the  Word !  Three 
years  ago  I  was  the  guest  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  said  to  me,  "  The  man  who  preaches  the 
gospel  and  leads  men  to  Christ  holds  the  highest  office 
on  the  face  of  the  earth."  No  matter  how  humble  the 
place  which  one  occupies  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  if  he 
has  the  grace  and  the  ability  to  turn  men  to  righteous- 
ness, he  holds  the  highest  office  here,  and  by-and-by  will 


ADDRESS    OF    REV.    DR.    S.    I.    PRIME.  95 

shine  among  the  stars  with  those  whom  God  himself  de- 
lights to  honor. 

The  exercises  of  the  afternoon  were  now  brought 
to  a  close,  the  benediction  being  pronounced  by  Rev. 
John  Maclean,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  late  President  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey. 


III. 


CORRESPONDENCE 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


I. 

Assembly's  College,  Belfast,  April  A^th^  1872. 
The  Faculty  of  Belfast  Presbyterian  College  have  heard 
with  the  highest  satisfaction  that  the  Jubilee  of  the  Rev. 
Professor  Hodge  of  Princeton  is  to  be  celebrated  on  the 
24th  of  April,  1872.  They  thankfully  bear  their  united 
testimony  to  the  very  distinguished  services  which  Dr. 
Hodge  has  rendered  to  the  Church  Catholic  as  an  ex- 
pounder and  advocate  of  the  great  doctrines  of  the 
Reformation ;  and  they  hereby  depute  their  Secretary, 
the  Rev.  J.  L.  Porter,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Sacred 
Literature,  to  represent  them  at  the  Princeton  celebra- 
tion, and  to  tender  to  Dr.  Hodge  and  his  worthy  col- 
leagues their  most  cordial  congratulations  on  the  interest- 
ing occasion.    Signed  by  order  of  the  Faculty, 

W.  D.  KiLLEN,  D,D.,  President  of  Faculty. 

To  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Theological  Seminary^ 

Princeton,  New  Jersey,  United  States  of  America. 


II. 

Address  from  the  Theological  Professors,  etc.,  of  the  Reformed 

Presbyterian  Church,  Scotland. 

• 
To  the  Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  D.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological 
Seminary,  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

Honored  Father  in  Christ, — 

Permit  us,  as  representatives  of  a  Church,  Presbyterian 
in  its  constitution  and  adhering  with  tenacity  to  the  doc- 

(99) 


lOO  CORRESPONDENCE. 

trines  of  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  to  approach 
you  on  the  occasion  of  your  Jubilee  as  a  Professor,  with 
an  address  of  warm  and  respectful  congratulation. 

The  Church  to  which  we  belong  is  small,  but  it  claims 
to  be  the  oldest  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches,  embracing 
that  Confession,  and  it  yields  to  none  in  attachment  to  the 
whole  Evangelical  Doctrine,  of  which  it  is  the  S3aTibol. 
Regarding  you  as  in  many  respects  the  ablest  living  ex- 
positor and  champion  of  that  doctrine,  we  cannot  but  feel 
the  deepest  interest  in  your  welfare,  and  cherish  the  hope 
that  you  may  long  be  spared  as  the  venerated  Nestor  of 
Evangelical  Presb3'terianism  to  expound  the  faith,  to  the 
defence  and  illustration  of  which  your  life  has  been  con- 
secrated. We  admire  your  great  resources,  )^our  varied 
acquisitions,  your  singular  skill  in  the  lucid  presentation 
of  truth,  the  happy  combination  of  candor  and  faithful- 
ness in  your  controversial  discussions,  and  the  glow  of 
elevated  feeling  by  which  your  writings  are  redeemed 
and  sanctified  to  the  noblest  ends. 

Were  we  to  specialize  the  chief  literary  services  which 
in  our  humble  judgment,  you  have  rendered  to  the  Chris- 
tian cause,  we  might  dwell  on  your  masterly  exposition 
of  the  great  Epistle  to  the  Romans, — your  defence  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  maintaining  so  firmly  and  so 
wisely  its  essential  principle  of  a  veritable  substitution, 
and  yet  jealously  securing  the  gracious  amplitude  and 
freedom  of  the  Gospel  offer, — your  admirable  essays  on 
the  nature  of  the  Church, — and  your  comprehensive  and 
enlightened  views  on  the  subject  of  natural  religion.  Nor 
can  we  overlook  the  genial  and  catholic  spirit  by  which 
your  writings  are  marked,  affording  an  instance  of  the 
benefit  accruing  to  tlie  highest  interests  of  religion  when 
temper  is  subdued  that  truth  may  be  all  the  more  effect- 
ively commended  ; — when  self  is  crucified  that  Christ  may 
be  exalted. 

We  have  never  seen,  and  never  may  see  your  face.  It 
may  cheer  you  accordingly  to  think  that,  far  beyond  the 


CORRESPONDENCE.  lOI 

circle  of  your  ordinary  friendships,  there  are  many  who 
revere  your  name,  and  who  bless  God  for  a  master  in 
Israel  so  richly  furnished  with  the  gifts  requisite  for  the 
vindication  of  the  essential  principles  of  the  Christian 
faith.  To  us  it  tends  to  enrich  the  prospect  of  heaven, 
that  we  may  there  at  length  meet  face  to  face  with  one 
who,  in  addition  to  all  his  attainments  in  the  science  of 
theology,  and  all  his  eminent  services  to  the  Christian 
cause,  has  by  the  shining  and  consistent  piety  of  his  life 
"  adorned  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things." 

Any  testimonial  from  us  may  be  of  small  value.  We 
trust,  however,  that  it  may  not  be  without  interest  to 
your  eyes,  so  far  as  it  emanates  from  a  Church  still  loyal 
to  the  real  principles  and  laboring  to  fulfill  the  legitimate 
ends  of  the  Covenants  of  Scotland,  and  of  the  martyrs 
who  sealed  them  with  their  blood. 

May  He  who  holds  the  stars  in  His  right  hand  uphold 
you  in  the  grace  and  comforts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the 
close  of  life,  till  you  enjoy,  in  reward  for  all  you  have  done 
on  earth  to  expound  and  vindicate  the  Word  written  and 
inspired,  direct  and  everlasting  converse  with  the  Word 
Personal  and  Divine  ! 

We  subscribe  ourselves,  yours  in  the  bond  of  the  Gospel 
with  profound  esteem, 

Wm.  H.  Goold,  D.D., 

Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  and  Church  History 

to  the  Refornied  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland. 

Wm.  Binnie,  D.D., 
Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  to  the  Reformed 

Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland. 

Wm.  Symington, 

Convener  of  Hall  Committee  of  Reformed 

Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland. 

Edinburgh,  Scotland, 
April  2,  1872. 


I02  CORRESPONDENCE. 


III. 


To  the  Rev.  Professor  Hodge,  D.D. 

Beloved  and  Honored  Sir, — 

Havnng  received  information  that  you  enter  on  the 
fiftieth  year  of  your  Professorate  on  the  24th  day  of  the 
present  month,  and  that  this  interesting  event  is  to  be 
suitably  commemorated  in  America,  and  especially  in  the 
College  of  Princeton,  which  by  your  gifts  and  learning, 
your  labors  and  character,  you  have  done  so  much  to 
adorn  ;  we,  the  members  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  have  resolved  to  join  with  other 
ecclesiastical  bodies  and  churches  in  sending  you  the  ex- 
pression of  our  highest  respect  and  Christian  congratula- 
tion. We  represent  as  a  Presbytery  59  congregations 
consisting  of  more  than  26,000  members.  But  we  are 
certain  that  all  the  Presbyteries  of  our  Church  with  its 
607  congi-egations,  had  they  been  aware  of  the  time  of 
this  happy  Jubilee,  would  have  been  equally  prompt  and 
unanimous  with  ourselves  in  seeking  to  mingle  their  con- 
gratulations with  those  of  all  the  "  Churches  of  the 
Saints." 

We  feel  ourselves  all  the  more  called  upon  to  address 
you,  because  we  own  ourselves  to  be  your  debtors.  By 
your  admirable  exegetical  writings,  by  your  Theological 
Essays  doing  successful  battle  with  existing  errors  and 
evils,  by  your  works  on  Systematic  Theology  which  com- 
bine in  them  the  best  qualities  of  the  writers  of  the 
Reformation  and  the  Puritan  period,  and  yet  have  all  the 
life  and  freshness  of  our  own  times,  you  have  helped 
mightily  in  the  establishment  and  defence  of  Christian 
truth,  and  done  much,  both  in  your  own  and  in  other 
countries  to  teach  those  who  are  the  teachers  of  others  ; 
while  in  your  personal  character  you  have  adorned  the 
doctrine  in  whose  vindication  you  have  long  done  such 
noble  service.  We  honor  you  as  the  instrument,  and  we 
glorify  God  in  you. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  IO3 

We  rejoice  to  know  that  at  so  advanced  a  period  in 
your  ministry  and  Professorate  you  retain  all  your  mental 
vigor,  exhibiting  all  the  maturity  of  age  but  none  of  its 
decay,  and  our  united  prayer  is,  that  your  preeminent 
usefulness  may  yet  be  greatl}^  prolonged,  and  that  at  the 
end,  having  finished  your  course  and  kept  the  faith,  you 
may  "  receive  a  full  reward." 

In  name  of  the  Presbytery, 

William  Reid,  Moderator. 

William  Bruce,  Clerk. 
Edinburgh,  ^th  April,  1872. 


IV. 

To  the  Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  D.D.,  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 
Reverend  Sir, — 

We,  the  Principals  and  Professors  of  the  Theological 
Faculties  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  at  Edinburgh, 
Glasgow  and  Aberdeen,  desire  to  offer  our  most  cordial 
congratulations  to  you  on  your  entrance  on  the  fiftieth 
year  of  your  Professorship  in  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Princeton. 

We  only  express  to  yourself  what,  on  occasions  without 
number,  we  have  expressed  to  others,  when  we  say  that 
we  regard  your  services  in  the  cause  of  revealed  truth, 
extending  over  half  a  century,  as  of  inestimable  value, 
and  that  we  look  on  you  as  one  of  the  chief  instruments 
raised  up  by  the  head  of  the  Church,  in  these  times  of 
doubt  and  contention^  for  maintaining  in  its  purity  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

While  the  Princeton  Reviezv,  under  your  management, 
has  continued  from  year  to  year  to  bear  testimony  fear- 
lessly, yet  firmly,  for  the  truths  of  God's  Word,  and  to 
commend  them  alike  to  the  understanding  and  the  con- 
science, and  while  your  Commentaries  have  placed  these 
truths  in  a  similar  light  before  the  mass  of  readers,  your 


I04 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Systematic  Theology,  the  crown  of  your  labors,  has 
brought  together  the  invaluable  information  and  reason- 
ings of  your  Articles  and  Lectures,  and  forms  a  Treasury 
of  Evangelical  truth  expressed  in  a  spirit  eminently  calm 
and  Christian,  which  will  extend  still  more  widely  the 
wholesome  influence  of  your  hfe  and  labors. 

We  congratulate  you  further  on  the  honorable  and  dis- 
tinguished place  which  you  hold  in  the  esteem  of  the 
whole  Presbyterian  Church,  and  of  all  churches  that 
prize  Evangelical  truth, — on  the  affectionate  regard  so 
warmly  cherished  for  you  by  your  students  both  past  and 
present, — and  on  the  happy  domestic  influence  which 
through  God's  blessing,  has  given  to  the  Church  sons 
likeminded  with  yourself,  following  in  your  footsteps,  and 
aiding  in  your  work. 

It  is  our  earnest  prayer,  and  that  of  the  whole  church 
with  which  we  are  connected,  that  you  may  yet  long  be 
spared  to  your  family,  to  the  Seminary,  and  to  the  Church 
universal,  and  eminently  blessed  in  such  further  fabors  as 
your  strength  may  enable  you  to  undertake,  and  that  in 
God's  good  time  an  entrance  may  be  ministered  to  you 
abundantly  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 


(Edinburgh.) 

ROBERT  S.  CANDLISH,  D.D., 

(Princeton  and  Edinburgh,). 
Principal  of  the  New  College,  Edinburgh. 

ALEXANDER  DUFF,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Professor  of  Evar.gelistic  Theology 

GEORGE  SMEATON,  D.D., 

Professor  of  Exegetical  Theology. 

ROBERT  RAINY,  D.D., 

Professor  of  Church  History. 

A.  B.  DAVIDSON,  LL.D.,  D.D., 

Professor  of  Hebrew,  etc. 

JAMES  MacGREGOR,  D.D., 

Professor  of  Systematic  Theology. 

WILLIAM  G.  BLAIKIE,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor    of   Apologetics    and    Pastoral 
Theology. 

JOHN  DUNS,  D.D.,  F.R.S.E., 
Professor  of  Natural  Science. 


(Glasgow  and  Aberdeen.) 

PATRICK  FAIREAIRN,  D.D., 

Principal  of  Free  Church  College,  Glas- 
gow. 

GEORGE  C.  M.  DOUGLAS,  D.D., 

Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  F.  C.  College, 

Glasgow. 

ISLAY  BURNS,  D.D., 

Professor  of  Divinity,  F.  C.  College,  Glas- 
gow. 

JAMES  LUMSDEN,  D.D., 

Principal  and  Senior  Professor  of  Theo- 
logy, Free  Church  College,  Aberdeen. 

DAVID  BROWN,  D.D., 

(Princeton  and  Aberdeen,) 

Professor  of  Theology  and  Church  His- 
tory, Aberdeen. 

WM.  ROBERTSON  SMITH, 

Professor  of  Hebrew,  etc..  Free  Church 
College,  Aberdeen. 


(This  address  was  elegantly  engrossed  on  vellum  and  forwarded  in  a  purple  morocco  case.) 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I05 


To  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Prince- 
ton^ New  Jersey. 

Gentlemen, — 

Having  learned  that  it  is  your  intention  to  signalize  the 
completion  of  the  fiftieth  year  of  Dr.  Charles  Hodge's 
official  life  as  Professor  of  Systematic  Theology,  by  a 
ceremonial  befitting  the  occasion,  we,  the  members  of 
the  Faculty  of  Magee  Presbyterian  College,  London- 
derry, Ireland,  beg  to  be  permitted  to  take  part  with  )^ou 
in  this  observance,  so  far  as  to  send  to  you  and  to  the 
illustrious  Theologian,  whose  professional  Jubilee  is  about 
to  be  celebrated,  our  most  cordial  salutations. 

We  are  sensible  that  to  give  flattering  titles  to  man, 
even  under  that  strong  temptation  which  now  besets  us, 
would  neither  comport  with  the  obligations  of  Christian 
fidelity  and  love,  nor  afford  any  real  pleasure  to  one  who 
has  spent  a  long  life  jn  illustrating  and  defending  the  doc- 
trines of  grace.  But  whilst  Dr.  Hodge's  disciples — and 
the  actual  roll  of  the  students  in  the  Seminary  he  has 
adorned  furnishes  no  adequate  representation  of  their 
number — would  be  the  first  to  acknowledge  that  his  truest 
witness  is  in  heaven  and  his  most  enduring  record  on 
high,  at  the  same  time  they  may,  in  perfect  harmony  with 
this  admission,  give  themselves  the  satisfaction  of  regis- 
tering, at  such  a  time  as  the  present,  their  sense  of  the 
eminent  services  he  has  been  enabled  to  render  to  Theo- 
logical Science,  and  to  the  Universal  Church. 

It  is  given  to  few  men  to  survive  with  the  eye  undimmed 
and  the  natural  force  of  mind  unabated,  the  labors  of  half 
a  century  of  pubhc  life.  When  such  a  case  does  occur  it 
is  impossible  to  meet  it  as  one  of  the  ordinary  incidents  of 
human  history.  But  when  a  career  so  prolonged  has  been 
marked  by  sustained  and  successful  efforts  in  the  elucida- 
tion of  Divine  truth,  and  in  guiding  the  current  "of  human 


I06  CORRESPONDENCE. 

opinion  upon  those  subjects  which  involve  eternal  issues, 
we  cannot  contemplate  the  retrospect  without  emotions 
of  thankfulness  and  joy. 

That  old  Theology  which  rightly  traces  its  descent 
from  the  Pauline  Epistles,  which  found  in  Augustine  a 
subtle  interpreter,  and  in  Calvin  a  defender  both  scientific 
and  fearless,  will  hereafter  be  associated  with  the  name  of 
another  expounder — that  of  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  of  Prince- 
ton. His  great  work  on  Systematic  Theology,  now  pass- 
ing through  the  press  in  this  country,  will  be  an  enduring 
monument  of  the  author's  industry,  orthodoxy  and  genius ; 
it  will  doubtless  see  many  jubilees  in  the  progress  of  the 
ages  yet  to  come  ;  for  it  will  take  rank  beside  the  disserta- 
tions of  Augustine  and  the  demonstrations  of  Calvin,  as 
among  the  most  lucid  expositions  of  truth  which  Christian 
erudition  has  produced. 

We  are  gratified  to  think  that  God  has  vouchsafed  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church  the  honor  of  having  raised  up 
within  her  pale  such  a  Theological  Teacher  as  Dr.  Hodge ; 
and  we  feel  confident  that  the  members  of  that  Church 
will  show  themselves  capable  of  appreciating  their  privi- 
leges, only  so  long  as  they  remain  true  to  the  system  of 
doctrine  which  he  has  expounded,  and  which  is  built  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone.  In  proportion  as 
our  seminaries  of  learning  are  characterized  by  tenacity 
of  these  doctrines,  so  will  they  be  influential  in  the  con- 
flicts that  have  yet  to  be  waged  for  the  emancipation  of 
the  human  mind,  the  vindication  of  the  Gospel,  and  the 
evangelization  of  the  world. 

If  anything  were  needed  to  make  firmer  the  ties  which 
bind  us  to  our  kindred  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
beyond  the  arguments  of  a  common  blood,  a  common 
liberty,  a  common  hterature,  and  a  common  religion,  such 
an  additional  incentive  to  unity  would  be  found  in  our 
participation  in  the  benefits  which  Dr.  Hodge  has  con- 
ferredupon  us,  upon  our  Church  and  our  country,  by  the 


CORRESPONDENCE.  IO7 

works  which  he  has  pubHshed.  We  congratulate  the 
Seminary  of  Princeton  and  the  Christian  people  of 
America,  on  their  having  among  themselves  a  man  who 
occupies  the  front  rank  among  living  theologians  ;  but  we 
trust  you  will  forgive  us  if  we  claim  a  share  in  this  pos- 
session, and  grudge  to  Princeton,  or  even  to  America,  the 
exclusive  ownership  of  one,  who  by  the  grace  of  God  has 
made  himself  the  common  property  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
We  cannot  conclude  without  assuring  you  that  it  was 
our  desire  to  appoint  one  of  our  number  to  carry  our 
felicitations  to  you  and  to  Dr.  Hodge ;  but  circumstances 
have  prevented  the  accomplishment  of  our  wishes.  We 
have  however  availed  ourselves,  at  your  approaching 
celebration,  of  the  presence  of  the  Rev.  Hugh  Smyth,  a 
young  and  highly  respected  member  of  our  Irish  General 
Assembly,  who  is  in  some  respects  a  connecting  link  be- 
tween you  and  us,  as  he  is  at  once  an  Alumnus  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  former  student  of  Magee 
College.  He  will  be  the  bearer  on  our  behalf  of  this  con- 
gratulatory message. 

We  remain,  gentlemen,  yours  very  faithfully, 

Thomas  Witherow, 

Professor  of  Church  History. 
Richard  Smyth, 

Professor  of  Theology. 
James  G.  Shaw, 

Professor  of  Metaphysics. 
John  J.  Given, 
Professor  of  Oriental  Literature  and  Herrneneutics. 
J.  T.  McGaw, 

Professor  of  Logic  and  Rhetoric. 
Henry  Sheil  McKee,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Hon.  M.R.S.L., 
Professor  of  Latin  and  Greek. 
J.  R.  Leebody, 
Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy. 
Londonderry,  dth  Aprils  1872. 


I08  CORRESPONDENCE. 


VI. 


University  of  Edinburgh, 
2W1  March,  1872. 

The  Theological  Faculty  met  this  day  at  the  close  of 
the  Winter  Session  of  the  University ;  Present,  Thomas 
J.  Crawford,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Dean  of  the 
Faculty  of  Theology  ;  William  Stevenson,  D.D.,  Professor 
of  Ecclesiastic  History  ;  Archibald  II.  Charteris,  D.D., 
Professor  of  Biblical  Criticism  and  Biblical  Antiquities  ; 
and  David  Liston,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Hebrew.    > 

Inter  alia  : 

There  was  laid  before  the  Faculty  a  letter  from  the 
Rev.  Professor  Watts  of  Belfast,  conveying  the  announce- 
ment, that  on  the  24th  of  April  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  Senior 
Professor  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  New  Jersey, 
will  have  completed  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  Professorate  ; 
and  that  arrangements  have  been  made  for  the  celebration 
of  this  event  in  such  a  manner  as  may  afford,  not  only  to 
the  Alumni  of  Princeton  College,  but  to  others  who  may 
be  desirous  of  joining  with  them,  an  opportunity  of  ex- 
pressing to  Dr.  Hodge  those  sentiments  of  respect,  esteem, 
and  admiration  with  which  he  is  regarded  by  them. 

The  Faculty  esteem  it  a  high  privilege  to  take  part  in 
celebrating  the  Jubilee  of  one  whose  praise  may  be  truly 
said  to  be  in  all  the  churches.  Though  personally 
strangers  to  the  venerable  and  distinguished  man  to 
whom  this  merited  tribute  is  to  be  rendered,  they  have 
been  long  and  intimately  acquainted  with  his  writings, 
and  have  thence  been  led  to  form  the  very  highest  esti- 
mate of  him,  whether  as  an  able  and  learned  expounder 
of  Holy  Scripture,  as  a  singularly  profound  and  accom- 
plished theologian,  or  as  an  earnest  and  masterly  defender 
of  the  purity  and  authority  of  revealed  truth  against  all 
-attempts  to  corrupt  or  controvert  it. 

The  Faculty  desire  to  express  their  thanksgivings  to 


CORRESPONDENCE.  lOQ 

Almighty  God  for  all  the  goodness  of  which  His  esteemed 
servant  has  hitherto  been  partaker  throughout  a  long  and 
honorable  and  useful  life, — and  for  the  inestimable  services 
rendered  by  him,  not  only  to  those  among  whom  he  was 
specially  called  to  labor,  but  to  the  whole  Church  of 
Christ  throughout  the  world.  They  heartily  join  with 
their  brethren  at  Princeton  in  tendering  to  Dr.  Hodge  their 
warm  congratulations  on  having  completed  the  fiftieth 
year  of  his  professional  labors  in  that  Seminary  which  he 
has  so  greatly  dignified  and  adorned.  And  they  earnestly 
pray  that  the  God  of  all  grace  who  hath  blessed  him 
hitherto  would  bless  him  still, — granting  to  him  yet  a 
continuance  for  many  years  of  undiminished  usefulness 
and  happiness, — and  finally  bestowing  upon  him  the  rich 
reward  of  those  who  have  turned  many  to  righteousness, 
and  who  shall  shine  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever. 

The  Faculty  direct  an  extract  of  this  Minute  to  be  sent 
to  the  Rev.  William  Henry  Green,  D.D.,  Secretary  to  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Princeton  Seminary,  with  the 
request  that  he  would  have  the  kindness  to  present  it  to 
Dr.  Hodge  on' the  occasion  of  his  Jubilee. 

Extracted  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Theological 
Faculty  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh  by 

Thos.  J.  Crawford,  D.D., 

Dea7i  of  the  Faculty  of  Theology. 


VII. 


Edinburgh,  March  19,  1872. 

•  We,  the  undersigned.  Professors  of  Theology  in  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church,  desire  in  connection  with 
the  approaching  Jubilee  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hodge  of  Prince- 
ton, to  join  our  warm  congratulations  with  those  of  our 
Christian  brethren  and  teachers  of  sacred  science  through- 
out the  world.     We  are  deeply  grateful  to  God  for  the 


no  CORRESPONDENCE. 

preeminent  services  rendered  by  Dr,  Hodge  in  so  many 
departments  of  Christian  Theology,  and  for  his  contribu- 
tions to  its  literature  which  have  become  the  possession 
of  the  universal  Church  of  Christ.  We  congratulate  our 
American  fellow-Christians  on  having  still  preserved  to 
them  one  whose  name  and  services  shed  so  much  lustre 
on  the  new  world,  while  they  reflect  so  much  light  upon 
the  old ;  and  it  is  our  fervent  prayer,  that  not  only  the 
various  sections  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  all  the 
branches  of  the  true  Church  everywhere  may  yet  for 
years  to  come  rejoice  in  the  continued  labors  and  useful- 
ness of  one  who  has  been  in  a  degree  rarely  equalled  in 
any  age  or  country  the  expositor  and  champion  of  our 
common  Christianity. 

James  Harper,  D.D.,  S.T.P., 

United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland. 

N.  McMiCHAEL,  D.D.,  S.T.P., 
United  Presbyterian  Church. 

John  Eadie,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

John  Cairns,  D.D.,  S.T.P., 

United  Presbyterian  Church. 


VIII. 
(Extract  from  a  letter  from  Bishop  McIlvaine  of  Ohio.) 

Cincinnati,  March  8,  1872. 

...  As  one  of  the  associates  and  friends  of  Dr.  Hodge, 
than  whom  there  can  be  but  very  few  living  whose  loving 
association  began  so  early,  or  under  circumstances  so 
calculated  to  make  it  abiding,  I  cannot  withhold  an  ex- 
pression of  lively  interest  in  the  contemplated  celebration, 
as  a  rendering  of  honor  to  whom  it  is  most  justly  due, 
and  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  to  the  fountain  of  all  wis- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I  I  I 

dom  and  grace  for  having  given  to  His  Church  on  earth 
for  so  many  years  a  light  so  bright  and  shining. 

It  is  now  some  fifty-eight  years  since,  while  students 
together  in  the  College  of  my  native  State,  our  friendship 
began ;  and  nearly  as  many  years  since,  by  the  grace  of 
God  making  us  hew  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus,  we  became 
brethren  one  of  another,  in  a  very  near  and  affectionate 
association.  We  were  then,  as  now,  of  different  churches 
in  the  one  everliving  Church  of  Christ;  but  I  am  thank- 
ful to  be  able  to  say,  that  no  dividing  hues  have  ever 
touched  our  oneness  of  heart,  or  hindered  the  conscious- 
ness and  manifestation  of  that  confiding  Christian  attach- 
ment with  which  our  religious  life  began. 

It  is  under  these  circumstances  that  I  regard  with  great 
pleasure  the  intended  meeting  and  its  object.  It  is  very 
meet  and  right  thus  to  acknowledge  the  goodness  of  God 
in  having  given  and  preserved  to  the  work  of  His  truth 
in  the  earth,  during  so  many  years  of  exacting  study  and 
labor,  a  teacher  so  efficient  and  beloved,  and  an  author  so 
enlightened  and  wise ;  at  whose  hps  so  man}^  have 
learned  how  to  make  known  and  defend  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  and  for  whose  writings  of  eminent  learning  and 
power,  the  whole  Church  is  deeply  indebted  to  the  grace 
which  made  him  sufficient  for  such  valuable  service. 

Desiring  my  respectful  and  fraternal  regards  to  those 
who  shall  meet  together  on  the  24th  of  April,  and  hoping 
to  meet  them  in  that  blessed  Assembly  and  Communion 
of  which  it  will  be  the  universal  joy  to  ascribe  all  honor 
and  glory  "  to  Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  and  to  the 
Lamb  forever  and  ever,"  I  remain 

Your  friend  and  brother, 

Chas.  p.  McIlvaine. 


112  CORRESPONDENCE. 


IX. 


(Extract  from  a  letter  from  Bishop  Johns  of  Virginia.) 

Malvern,  April  2,  1872. 

...  I  find  that  I  have  miscalculated  (in  publishing  my 
list  of  official  appointments  for  this  season,  beginning 
April  22)  and  that  my  error  will  deprive  me  of  the  great 
gratification  of  uniting  with  you  in  the  interesting  celebra- 
tion. 

I  need  not  assure  you  that  the  disappointment  is  griev- 
ous to  me.  Apart  from  the  pleasant  and  profitable  inter- 
course which  I  anticipated,  I  earnestly  desired  by  my 
presence  to  recognize  my  relation  to  a  Seminary  which  I 
can  never  cease  to  remember  with  gratitude  and  affection, 
and  to  join  in  thanksgiving  to  God  for  the  prolonged  life 
and  eminent  usefulness  of  my  beloved  brother — beloved 
by  none  as  by 

Yours  truly, 

J.  Johns. 

(Letters  similarly  expressive  of  sympathy  with  the 
occasion,  and  regret  at  their  inability  to  be  present,  were 
receive!  from  Bishops  Clark  of  Rhode  Island  and  Little- 
john  of  Long  Island,  former  pupils  of  Dr.  Hodge.) 


X. 

To  the  Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir, — 

The  Faculty  of  Lane  Theological  Seminary  desire  to 
assure  you  in  the  most  emphatic  terms  of  their  cordial 
union  with  all  your  Presbyterian,  all  your  Christian 
brethren,  in  affectionate  and  reverent  congratulation  on 
your  completion  of  the  half  century  of  labor  in  theological 


CORRESPONDENCE.  II3 

instruction  soon  to  be  celebrated  by  great  numbers  of 
your  pupils  and  friends  gathered  at  your  home. 

We  thank  God,  Sir,  on  your  behalf,  for  sparing  your 
life  so  long,  and  for  upholding  you  unto  so  able  and  faith- 
ful a  work  of  instruction  to  fifty  successive  classes  of  can- 
didates for  the  ministry,  and  through  them,  and  by  your 
printed  works,  to  untold  numbers  of  ministers  and  Chris- 
tians besides. 

We  sincerely  pray  that  God's  good  Providence  may 
make  the  coming  celebration  as  joyous  as  those  who  love 
you  best  can  desire  ;  that  a  prolonged  arid  serene  evening 
of  life  may  be  vouchsafed  to  you ;  and  then  that  an  en- 
trance may  be  ministered  unto  you  abundantly  into  the 
everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ. 

Most  sincerely,  your  brethren  and  fellow- 
servants  of  Christ  and  His  Church, 

L.  J.  Evans, 
E.  D.  Morris, 
H.  A.  Nelson, 

Thos.  E.  Thomas. 
Lane  Theological  Seminary, 
Cincinnati,  April  8,  1872. 

P.  S. — Our  colleague.  Professor  Smith,  is  at  this  time 
in  England. 


XI. 

San  Francisco,  Cal.,  April  9,  1872. 
Dear  Brother, — 

.  .  .  We,  on  this  far  Pacific  shore,  hail  this  memorable 
day  with  a  gladness  and  thankfulness  no  less  than  yours 
on  the  Atlantic  coast.  Separated  by  this  great  continent, — 
ourselves  the  youngest,  as  you  are  the  oldest,  of  the 
Theological  Seminaries  of  our  Church, — we  are  with  you 
in  heart  and  soul,  in  thankfulness  for  a  life  thus  prolonged, 
8 


114  CORRESPONDENCE. 

whose  fruits  of  labor  and  blessing  to  the  Church  have 
been  ripening  and  accumulating  till  the  present  hour, — in 
benedictions  on  him  whose  instructions,  whose  example 
and  whose  writings  have  done  so  much  not  only  to  fit  us 
for  usefulness,  but  to  encourage  and  quicken  us  in  the 
toils  of  the  service  of  our  precious  Redeemer.  Deprived 
as  we  are  of  the  happiness  of  being  with  you,  we  yet 
enjoy  a  deep  happiness  in  thus  mingling  our  emotions  and 
affections  in  the  same  pure  current  with  your  own.  We 
have  ever  remembered  with  affection  and  pride  that  we 
sat  as  learners  at  the  feet  of  this  beloved  disciple ;  and 
under  the  power  of  this  remembrance  we  send  you  these 
congratulations,  less  with  the  feeUng  of  theological  in- 
structors than  with  the  grateful  emotions  of  those  who 
feel  that  their  obhgations  to  this  beloved  Professor  have 
ever  been  too  great  to  be  repaid  by  anything  but  grati- 
tude and  benedictions.    In  love  to  our  common  Redeemer, 

Very  truly  yours, 

George  Burrowes, 

W.  A.  Scott, 

W.  Alexander. 

Not  as  an  Alumnus  but  as  an  adopted  son  of  Princeton 
T  cordially  join  in  the  sentiments  expressed  by  my 
coadjutors  in  this  infant  institution.  Glorious  old  Prince- 
ton honored  in  the  long  line  of  its  Professors — never  did 
it  stand  higher  in  the  estimation  of  the  Church  it  has 
faithfully  supphed  than  at  this  day  which  forms  the  Jubilee 

of  Dr.  Hodge. 

D.  W.  Poor. 

XII. 

Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  April  9,  1872. 

My  dear  Brother, — 

....  My  colleagues  have  desired  me  to  delay  for  a 
while  sending  an  answer  in  the  hope  that  some  one  of  us 
at  least  might  see  his  way  clear  to  attend,  but  the  occa- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  II5 

sion  comes  so  near  our  own  anniversary,  that  we  are  all 
of  us  obliged  reluctantly  to  decline.  My  brethren  join 
with  me  in  the  heartiest  congratulations  to  Dr.  Hodge 
and  to  the  Theological  Seminary  which  has  had  the  rare 
felicity  of  enjoying  his  services  during  so  truly  patriarchal 
a  period. 

....  My  own  Seminary  life  at  Princeton  was  just  at 
the  period  of  stormy  agitation  which  immediately  pre- 
ceded the  disruption  of  our  Church.  All  newspapers  and 
all  ecclesiastical  meetings  resounded  with  the  din  of  arms. 
But  in  the  Seminary,  apart  from  personal  discussions 
among  the  students,  all  was  peace.  The  Faculty,  in  com- 
mon with  a  large  portion  of  the  Church,  had  no  doubt  been 
misled  by  exaggerated  representations  into  believing  that 
the  Synods  of  Western  New  York  were  given  over  to 
Pelagianism  and  wild  disorder;  and  they  were  induced 
though  slowly  and  reluctantly  to  join  in  the  sharp  surgery 
which  was  thought  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  the 
body.  But  so  far  as  the  Seminary  was  concerned,  these 
wise  and  good  men  kept  their  sentiments  to  themselves. 
They  never  thought  it  necessary  to  lash  the  passions  of 
the  students,  or  raise  up  successive  generations  of  minis- 
ters, full  charged  with  the  divisive  and  unlovely  spirit  of 
party;  and  it  may  be  very  much  owing  to  this  that  so 
many  of  their  pupils  were  found  prompt  and  active  in 
applying  balm  to  the  wounds  of  our  Church,  and  nursing 
her  into  a  sound  and  healthy  cure. 

....  Dr.  Hodge  could  not  have  occupied  the  impor- 
tant chairs  he  has  for  so  many  years  filled — not  by  toler- 
ance but  with  the  steadily  growing  confidence  and  affec- 
tion of  the  church,  without  a  somewhat  rare  combination 
of  good  qualities.  It  is  little  that  he  is  a  good  scholar. 
It  is  not  everything  that  he  is  an  acute  and  profound 
theologian.  It  is  the  union  of  learning  with  intellectual 
superiority  commanding  respect,  with  broad  good  sense, 
cheerfulness,  kindliness,  unaffected  and  unpretentious 
piety  winning  confidence,  that  has  made  him  dear  to  so 


Il6  CORRESPONDENCE. 

many  hundreds  of  pupils  and  to  so  large  a  circle  of  friends. 
I  do  not  know  that  it  would  be  any  marked  abuse  of 
■words  to  say  that  he  is  a  man  of  genius,  but  I  am  very 
sure  that  his  long  and  distinguished  career  of  usefulness 
is  due  to  his  possessing  qualities  much  better  than 
genius. 

....  With   affectionate    personal    regards    and    best 
wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Seminary,  I  remain,  my 

dear  Sir, 

Very  truly  yours,  etc., 

Sam.  M.  Hopkins. 


XIII. 

Theological  Seminary,  Columbia,  S.  C,  April  8,  1872. 
Rev.  and  dear  Brother, — 

I  am  instructed  by  the  Faculty  of  this  Seminary  to  ex- 
press toyou  the  interest  which  we  feel  in  the  celebration 
of  April  24th. 

Three  of  our  number  sat  in  our  earlier  years  under  the 
instructions  of  Dr.  Hodge,  and  we  all  thankfully  acknowl- 
edge the  profit  we  have  received  from  the  long-continued 
and  useful  labors  of  this  Nestor  of  our  American  Presby- 
terian divines.  , 

But  the  duties  of  our  own  Seminary  will  prevent  us 
from  being  present  at  the  festivities  which  are  to  be  ap- 
propriately had  in  his  honor. 

In  behalf  of  the  Faculty, 

Geo.  Howe,  Chairman. 


Theological  Seminary,  Columbia,  S.  C,  April  20,  1872. 
Rev  and  dear  Sir, — 

At  a  meeting  of  the  students  of  this  Seminary,  held 
April  19th,  1872,  the  enclosed   paper  was  unanimously 


^  Committee. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 1  7 

adopted  ;    and  we,  the  undersigned,  were   appointed  a 
Committee  to  forward  a  copy  to  you. 

Respectfully, 

W.  S.  Bean,  Senior  Class. 

W.  T.  Thompson,  " 

W.  J.  McKay,  Middle  Class. 

T.  L.  Haman,  " 

Chas.  R.  Hemphill,  Junior  Class. 

H.  C.  Ansley,  " 

Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  D.D. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir, — 

We,  the  students  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Columbia,  extend  to  you  our  congratulations  on  this  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  your  Professorship. 

With  many  others  whom  your  labors  have  benefitted 
we  acknowledge  our  obhgations  to  you  as  a  Teacher  of 
God's  Word,  and  a  defender  of  our  common  Presbyterian 
faith ;  and  while  we  thank  the  great  Head  of  the  Church 
that  5^our  life  has  been  so  long  spared,  we  pray  that  many 
peaceful  years  of  labor  may  yet  be  granted  you,  and  that 
you  may  continue  to  serve  the  Church  of  God,  until  the 
Master  sees  fit  to  call  you  hence  to  that  abode  where, 
when  earthly  knowledge  shall  have  vanished  away,  we 
shall  know  even  as  also  we  are  known. 


XIV. 

New  Haven,  Ct.,  April  2$^  1872. 
My  dear  Sir,— 

Your  friendly  invitation  to  the  Theological  Faculty  to 
attend  the  Semi-Centennial  Anniversary  of  Dr.  Hodge 
was  laid  before  them,  and  we  had  hoped  until  the  very 
last  moment  that  some  ol  us  would  be  able  to  participate 
in  this  tribute  of  respect  to  him.     But  Dr.  Harris,  who 


1 1 8  CORRESPONDENCE. 

was  hoping  to  be  present,  has  just  embarked  for  Europe, 
and  the  other  gentlemen  are  especially  engaged  in  ex- 
aminations and  other  matters  connected  with  the  close 
of  the  term.  Under  these  circumstances  may  we  request 
of  you  the  favor  to  convey  to  Dr.  Hodge  our  hearty 
congratulations,  with  our  best  wishes  for  his  health  and 
happiness  ? 

With  high  regard  I  remain  very  truly  yours, 

George  E.  Day,  Sec.  Theological  Faculty. 


(Extract  of  a  letter  from  President  Porter.) 

Dear  Sir, —  .        April  20,  1872. 

...  I  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  be  present  myself,  and 

did  not  relinquish  this  hope  till  very  lately My 

excellent  friend,  Rev.  President  Woolsey,  will  present  to 
Dr.  Hodge,  and  the  gentlemen  present,  the  cordial  salu- 
tations and  congratulations  which  the  friends  of  Christian 
learning  and  of  evangelical  faith  cannot  fail  to  extend 
towards  so  faithful  a  laborer  in  the  service  of  our  com- 
mon Master.  The  gathering  of  the  representatives  of  so 
many  Christian  institutions  on  this  occasion,  and  of  so 
many  Christian  students,  pastors  and  workers,  who  hold 
the  common  faith  in  oneness  of  spirit  notwithstanding  the 
diversities  of  its  manifestation,  cannot  fail  to  be  hailed  as 
a  cheering  and  hopeful  sign  of  the  times.  We  have 
gratefully  recognized  the  courteous  attentions  and  the 
cordial  feelings  of  our  brethren  connected  with  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  at  our  public  celebrations  in  New 
Haven,  and  would  express  our  acknowledgment  of  the 
invitation  to  be  represented  on  this  occasion,  so  interest- 
ing in  the  history  of  theological  education  in  this  coun- 
try.    Very  respectfully  for  myself,  and 

In  behalf  of  the  Faculties, 

Noah  Porter. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  II9 


XV. 

Boston  (Methodist)  Theo.  School,  y^/r//  i,  1872. 

Dear  Sir, — 

It  would  afford  our  Faculty  unfeigned  pleasure  to  be 

represented  at  the  proposed  celebration Should 

it  be  found  practicable  to  delegate  one  of  our  number  to 
bear  our  congratulations  and  tribute  of  Christian  esteem, 
due  notice  will  be  given.  Should  it  not,  I  beg  that  you 
will  kindly  act  as  our  proxy,  and  express  to  your  vener- 
able President  our  lively  participation  in  the  rejoicings 
of  the  day,  and  our  sincerest  good  wishes  for  his  future 
prosperity.     Siciit  patribiis  sit  Dens  nobis. 

Yours  fraternally, 

W.  F.  Warren. 

(A  similar  letter  from  Rev.  R.  S.  Foster,  D.D.,  Presi- 
dent of  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  was  brought  by 
Professor  Henry  A.  Butts,  who  represented  that  Semin- 
ary.) 


XVI. 

Crozer  Theological  Seminary, 

Chester,  Pa.,  April  18,  1872. 
Dear  Brother, — 

....  It  will  give  me  very  great  pleasure  to  be  a  wit- 
ness of  the  honor  conferred  on  one  so  worthy  to  receive 
a  grateful  tribute  from  all  lovers  of  the  truth  of  which  he 
has  been  so  able  and  eminent  a  defender. 

Among  the  multitudes  who  honor  Dr.  Hodge,  there 
are  none  who  hold  him  in  higher  esteem  than  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  Churches.     For  years  he  has  had 


I20  CORRESPONDENCE. 

their  sympathy,  their  prayers,  and  their  admiration,  and 
they  rejoice  in  this  recognition  of  his  work. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Henry  G.  Weston, 


XVII. 

Southern  Baptist  Theo.  Sem., 

Greenville,  S.  C,  April  12,  1872, 
Dear  Brother, — 

....  Our  Faculty,  in  common  with  all  friends  of  theo- 
logical education,  have  felt  a  deep  interest  in  your  pro- 
posed celebration,  and,  did  circumstances  permit,  would 
rejoice  to  unite  with  you  upon  that  occasion ;  but  as  our 
term  ends  May  1st  none  of  us  can  be  present,  which  we 

greatly  regret. 

James  P.  Boyce,  Chairman  of  the  Faculty. 


XVIII. 

Brooklyn,  April  6,  1872. 
My  dear  Sir,— 

It  will  give  me  very  great  pleasure,  should  it  be  in  my 
power,  to  be  present  at  the  Semi-Centennial  Anniversary 
of  Dr.  Hodge's  official  connection  with  the  Seminary  of 
which  he  has  so  long  been  a  distinguished  ornament.  I 
have  not  the  advantage  of  a  personal  acquaintance  with 
Dr.  Hodge,  but  I  have -long  been  familiar  with  his  writ- 
ings, and  their  wide  and  salutary  influence,  and  have  been 
greatly  indebted  to  them  as  auxiliaries  to  my  own  instruc- 
tions while  occupying  the  chair  of  Exegesis.  But  much 
as  I  admire  his  learning,  and  what  it  has  achieved  for  the 
cause  of  truth,  I  would  exchange  it  all  were  it  mine,  and 
I  think  he  will  agree  with  me  in  the  sentiment,  for  what 
his  "  Way  of  Life  "  has  done,  and  will  continue  to  do,  in 


CORRESPONDENCE.  121 

directing  the  inquirer  to  the  true  and  living  way,  and  in 
guiding  the  young  disciple  in  it.  In  my  own  family,  and 
among  my  youthful  Christian  friends,  I  have  seen  much 
of  its  influence  in  deepening  the  experiences  of  the  divine 
life,  and  in  checking  the  tendency  to  shallowness  of  Chris- 
tian experience  through  superficial  doctrinal  teaching. 
Happy  is  the  man  whom  multitudes  of  humbler  disciples 
will  bless  as  their  guide  and  helper  in  the  path  of  life. 

If  I  should  not  have  the  satisfaction  of  being  personally 
present,  I  desire  through  you  the  pleasure  of  congratulat- 
ing Dr.  Hodge  on  his  long  and  useful  service  in  the 
church,  and  of  joining  with  his  friends  in  the  hope  that  it 
may  be  long  continued. 

Very  respectfully, 

T.  J.  CONANT. 

XIX. 

Williams  College,  April  22,  1872. 
Dear  Sir, — 

....  I  regret  to  say  that  it  will  not  be  compatible  with 
our  duties  here  for  any  of  us  to  attend.  I  can  only  say 
that  it  would  be  a  great  gratification  to  me  personally  to 
join  with  so  many  others  in  honoring  one  who  has  so 
long  stood  among  the  very  foremost  of  the  defenders  and 
expounders  of  revealed  truth,  and  who  has  done  so  much 
for  the  promotion  and  honor  of  American  scholarship. 
In  full  sympathy  with  the  occasion, 

I  am  cordially  yours, 

Mark  Hopkins. 

XX. 

Amherst  College,  April  20,  1872. 
Dear  Sir, — 

....  It  was  hoped  that  some  of  our  number  would  be 
able  to  attend.  But  it  now  seems  probable,  though  not 
yet  quite  certain,  that  no  one  of  us  can  enoy  this  pleasure. 


122  CORRESPONDENCE. 

You  will  please  accept  the  high  appreciation  with  which 
we  all  regard  the  venerable  and  distinguished  Professor. 
As  an  accomplished  scholar  in  his  line  of  study,  as  a 
champion  in  the  defence  of  our  common  faith,  as  a  zealous 
worker  in  preserving  and  enlarging  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  among  men,  he  well  deserves  the  commendation 
of  all  Christian  hearts.  A  man  like  Dr.  Hodge  must  be 
regarded  as  an  honor  to  the  whole  church  and  to  the 
human  race.  With  shades  of  difference  in  opinion  all  true 
Christians  are  under  one  Head,  and  are  impelled  by  one 
Spirit,  and  the  large  and  powerful  scholar  of  any  denom- 
ination is  the  common  property,  and  should  be  the  com- 
mon joy  of  us  all. 

May  God  spare  the  venerated  life  whose  great  services 
you  commemorate,  and  crown  this  half  century  memorial 
with  years  of  still  greater  usefulness  than  before  ! 

Respectfully  and  truly,  in  the  sympathies  of  our  com- 
mon faith, 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

W.  A.  Stearns. 


.     XXI. 

Dartmouth  College, 
Hanover,  N.  H.,  April  2,  1872. 
My  dear  Brother, — 

....  This  will  be  a  rare  semi-Centennial  —  grateful 
doubtless,  honorable  certainly,  to  the  venerable  Professor, 
but  more  to  the  praise  of  that  grace  divine  which  has 
made  him  and  his  record  what  they  are.  We  glorify 
God  in  him.  .  .  .  We  can  only  assure  you  of  our  hearty 
interest  in  the  occasion,  and  our  hope  and  expectation 
that  the  blessing  of  God  will  so  rest  upon  it,  that  it  will 
be  not  only  for  the  edification  of  all  concerned,  but  for 
the  honor  of  the  Master.     With  great  regard. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  D.  Smith. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 23 


XXII. 


Ursinus  College, 
Freeland,  Pa.,  April  g,  1872. 
My  dear  Sir, — 

....  jPermit  me,  however,  to  add  that  although  com- 
pelled to  yield  to  hindering  circumstances,  our  warmest 
sympathies  are  with  you  and  the  richly  merited  token  of 
regard  to  be  presented  to  one  whom  the  Lord  has  raised 
up  to  be  one  of  the  ablest  expounders  of  evangehcal 
theology,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  and  faithful  de- 
fenders of  Gospel  truth  against  the  artful  opposition  of 
modern  foes — a  man  whose  name  and  Avorks  will  rank 
with  those  of  the  most  honored  worthies  of  past  ages. 

Begging  you  "to  convey  to  Dr.  Hodge  assurances  of 
our  profound  esteem, 

Sincerely  yours, 

J.  H.  A.  Bomberger. 


XXIII. 

Hampden  Sidney,  Va.,  April  3,  1872. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir, — 

....  I  should  be  glad  to  do  anything  in  my  power  to 
show  my  cordial  appreciation  of  the  great  services  ren- 
dered by  Dr.  Hodge  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  to 
the  cause  of  our  common  Redeemer.  Circumstances, 
however,  put  it  out  of  my  power,  and  out  of  the  power  of 
my  colleagues,  to  be  present  on  the  occasion. 

Yours  truly, 
,  J.  M.  P.  Atkinson. 


124  CORRESPONDENCE. 


XXIV. 

Westminster  College, 
Fulton,  Mo.,  Ap7-il  15,  1872. 
Dear  Sir, — 

....  The  Faculty  of  Westminster  College  very  much 
regret  that  imperative  duties  oblige  them  to  deny  them- 
selves the  pleasure  of  being  present  on  the  very  interest- 
ing occasion.  They  beg  our  venerable  and  beloved  Pro- 
fessor to  accept  their  warmest  congratulations.  May  he 
long  be  spared  to  fill  the  important  position  he  has  so 
long  and  so  ably  occupied  ! 

I  beg  leave  to  say  on  my  own  account  that  I  do  most 
deeply  regret  that  circumstances  beyond  my  control  will 
render  it  impracticable  for  me  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  I  had 
anticipated  of  being  present  at  the  celebration  of  the 
fiftieth  year  of  Dr.  Hodge's  Professorship.  For  no  living 
man  do  I  entertain  so  high  regard. 

Very  truly, 

N.  L.  Rice. 

XXV. 

The  University  of  Mississippi, 
Oxford,  April  3,  1872. 
My  dear  Brother, — 

Gladly  would  I  unite  with  you  in  the  proposed  cele- 
bration, could  I  do  so  consistently  with  my  duties  in  the 
chair  of  Metaphysics  and  Logic  in  this  University.  I 
should  rejoice  to  meet  old  friends  that  were  class-mates 
with  me  at  the  feet  of  those  great  lights  in  the  church, 
Drs.  Alexander,  Miller,  and  J.  A.  Alexander.  I  should 
be  delighted  to  extend  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to 
brethren  of  the  same  name  and  faith,  although  separated 
(only  temporarily  I  trust)  by  ecclesiastical  lines.  But  of 
this  pleasure  I  must  be  deprived  b)'  the  force  of  circum- 
stances, which  1  cannot  disregard  consistently  with  pro- 
fessional duties. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 25 

May  the  Spirit  of  our  common  Lord  and  Master  ani- 
mate all  your  proceeding's,  is  the  earnest  desire  of  your 
fellow-servant  in  Christian  bonds. 

Very  sincerely, 

James  A.  Lyon. 

XXVI. 

New  York,  April  20,  1872. 
My  dear  Brother, — 

....  It  would  be  very  pleasant  to  me  to  be  with  you 
all  once  more,  and  more  particularly  on  an  occasion  of 
such  deep  interest,  but  common  prudence  utterly  forbids 
my  making  the  attempt.  T  have  strength  neither  of  body 
nor  mind  for  the  service  you  propose.* 

The  occasion  will  be  one  of  very  deep  interest.  I  re- 
joice in  the  honor  conferred  upon  that  faithful  and  labori- 
ous servant  of  God,  who  has  so  successfully  devoted  fifty 
years  to  directing  the  minds  and  hearts  of  young  men  to 
the  fields  white  to  the  harvest. 

What  a  flood  of  fight  has  he  poured  upon  the  path  of 
the  youthful  ministry  !  What  an  honor  and  privilege  is 
it  to  be  a  minister  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed 
God  !  Oh,  that  the  young  who  are  called  to  this  sacred 
service  may  deeply  feel  the  responsibifity  of  their  voca- 
tion !  My  prayer  for  the'm  is,  that  they  may  be  more  and 
yet  more  imbued  with  the  thought  that  their  mission  is 
"to  turn  men  from  darkness  to  fight,  and  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God  ;  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of 
sins,  and  an  inheritance  among  them  which  are  sanctified 
by  faith  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 

This,  after  all,  is  the  great  work  of  the  ministry  of 
reconcifiation.     Once  more  thanking  you  for  your  frater- 
nal greetings.      Affectionately  your  brother, 
1^^  Gardiner  Spring. 


*  Dr.  Spring,  as  a  Director  of  the  Seminary  in  1822  when  Dr.  Hodge 
entered  on  his  professorship,  had  been  invited  to  take  part  in  the 
exercises. 


126  CORRESPONDENCE. 


XXVII. 

(Letter  from  Alumni  of  Princeton,  resident  in 

Minnesota.) 
Dear  Sir, — 

The  undersigned,  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
now  living  in  Minnesota,  who  have  attended  the  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  and  who  cannot  (as  we 
wish  we  could)  be  present  in  the  body  at  the  Semi-Cen- 
tennial  celebration  in  honor  of  our  beloved  old  Professor, 
Charles  Hodge,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  April  24th,  1872,  to  com- 
memorate the  completion  of  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  connec- 
tion with  this  institution  as  a  teacher,  would,  nevertheless, 
send  our  ministerial  and  friendly  greeting. 

We  thank  God  for  ourselves,  that  we  have  had  the  rare 
honor  and  privilege  to  sit  as  pupils  at  the  feet  of  this  great 
teacher,  the  greatest  in  his  department,  as  we  truly  believe, 
to  be  found  to-day  in  this  or  any  other  land.  And  we  thank 
God,  for  the  church,  that  at  the  eventful  period  of  her  his- 
tory included  in  these  fifty  years,  the  chair  of  Theology 
in  her  oldest  (and  perhaps  most  influential)  Theological 
Seminary,  has  been  filled  by  a  teacher  so  wise,  so  learned, 
so  pure-minded,  so  catholic  in  his  views,  so  bold  in  main- 
taining the  truth,  so  conservative  and  yet  so  progressive 
withal,  and  above  and  through  all  so  devoutly  consecra- 
ted in  all  his  great  gifts  to  the  service  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ. 

We  almost  hesitate  to  speak  as  we  feel,  our  feelings  are 
so  strong  and  so  warm.  And  when  we  think  of  the  thou- 
sands of  young  men  during  these  fifty  years,  on  whom  in 
the  Seminary,  Professor  Charles  Hodge  laid  his  strong 
and  skilful  hand  to  mould  them  to  work  for  the  Master ; 
when  we  think  of  what  they  have  done  for  Christ,  the 
church  and  the  world,  because  of  what  he  did  for  them  ; 
when  we  think  of  his  general  and  diffused  influence  in  the 
church  at  large  through  his  commentaries  and  other  writ- 
ings, shaping  her  opinions  on  many  doctrines  and  subjects  ; 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I27 

and  when  we  think  of  the  honor  to  have  had  for  so  many 
years  such  a  man  as  the  representative  teacher  of  the  faith  of 
the  church,  in  both  her  common  and  her  peculiar  doctrines, 
we  can  only  from  our  deepest  hearts  say,  Thank  God,  thank 
God  for  Charles  Hodge ! 

To  this  venerable  man  on  this  auspicious  day,  we  indi- 
vidually send  our  warmest  love.  And  we  pray  our  Father 
in  heaven  to  spare  him  to  us  all  so  long  as  it  shall  be  best 
for  him  and  most  for  the  glory  of  the  common  Master. 

Frederick  T.  Brown,  St.  Paul. 
Daniel  B.  Jackson,  Litchfield. 
James  L.  Merritt,  St.  Charles. 
James  A.  McGowan,  Taylors  Falls. 
W.  J.  Hoar,  Willmar. 
W.  C.  Harding, 
Geo.  Ainslie,  Rochester. 
Thomas  Burnet,  Oronoco. 
Hugh  L.  Craven,  St.  Charles. 


XXVIII. 

Chiengmai,  North  Laos,  Farther  India, 

February  29,  1872. 
Dear  Sir, — 

Nothing  would  afford  me  greater  pleasure  than  to  be 

present  on  that  deeply  interesting  occasion.      It  is  our 

constant  prayer  that  Dr.  Hodge  may  long  be  spared  to 

the  Seminary Our  thoughts  will  also  turn  on 

that  day  to  one  who  was  so  long  the  associate  of  Dr. 

Hodge,  and   who  would   have  rejoiced   more  than  any 

other  had  his  life  been  spared  to  meet  with  you  on  the 

day  of  the  semi-Centennial.     The  name  of  Dr.  Addison 

Alexander  would  itself  have  made  a  less  noted  Seminary 

than  Princeton  illustrious.     No  institution  has  been  more 

signally  favored  in  that  galaxy  of  illustrious  men  who 

have  left  their  impress  upon  it,  and   through  it  on  the 


128  CORRESPONDENCE. 

Church  and  the  world.  Please  find  enclosed  my  contn-; 
bution  to  the  Hodge  Professorship ;  I  would  rejoice  if  it 
were  as  manv  thousands  as  it  is  dollars. 

Daniel  McGilvary. 


1932X6  ,Jf| 


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Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Ubrari^^ 


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